Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has publicly overruled his Foreign Minister’s statement that the Italy-Albania migrant protocol will not be extended beyond 2030, insisting the deal has no expiry date beyond Rome’s own wishes. The diplomatic U-turn has done little to silence Italy’s opposition, which had already seized on the original remarks as proof the scheme is a failure.
Posting on X on Tuesday, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama moved swiftly to contain the damage caused by comments made by his Foreign Minister, Ferit Hoxha, to Euractiv. Taking direct aim at the media coverage that followed, Rama wrote, “To all journalists, both Italian and otherwise, who have contacted us regarding a misleading quote reported by a press outlet following an interview with the Albanian Foreign Minister, I would like to reiterate, clearly and, I hope, once and for all, that our protocol with Italy is destined to last as long as Italy wants it.”
The intervention was an unusually blunt public correction of a senior government colleague by a sitting head of government. It also underlined how politically sensitive the Italy-Albania Protocol has become.
What Hoxha said
The episode began when Hoxha told Euractiv that Albania would not extend the five-year protocol beyond its current term, expiring in 2030, in part because he expected Albania to have joined the European Union by then. “First of all, it’s for five years and I’m not sure that there will be an extension,” Hoxha said. “Second, there will be no extension because we will be a member of the European Union. Once Albania joins, that is no longer extraterritorial, it’s the territory of the European Union.”
The remarks were picked up immediately by Italian media and the country’s opposition parties, who treated them as confirmation that even Tirana had lost faith in a scheme they have long dismissed as an expensive political vanity project.
Hoxha’s comments were characterised by centre-left and 5-Star Movement politicians as “the final nail in the coffin” of Meloni’s migration policy, with critics citing hundreds of millions of euros in costs and a handful of migrants actually detained.
