Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama has pledged to take back all Albanian prisoners from the United Kingdom if claims by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage about the number of Albanians in British jails prove accurate — but insists it’s an exaggeration. 

The exchange was part of a row between the two politicians sparked by Rama’s comments on post-Brexit Britain in an interview with The Guardian. Rama has previously clashed with rightwing British politicians over the scapegoating of Albanian migrants in the UK. 

Rama argued that Britain was “looking for places to dump migrants”, a stance he claimed would have been “unthinkable a decade ago”. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently asked if Albania would host migrants on behalf of the UK but was turned down by Rama, who explained a similar deal to host migrants for Italy was due to the "special relationship" between Tirana and Rome. 

Farage criticised Rama for describing Britain as a “dark place” after leaving the European Union in The Guardian interview. He urged the Albanian leader to “show some goodwill” and repatriate Albanian prisoners, citing a claim that “one in 50 Albanians in Britain are in prison”. 

“Ooopsss… Mr. @Nigel_Farage himself has just challenged me on the facts!” Rama wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on June 28. 

“What an honour — for a “giant man,” as he described me (meaning, of course, from a “tiny country”) — to earn the attention of Britain’s unrivalled virtuoso of headline politics.” 

Rama dismissed the figure as “bonkers” and “a classic from the post-truth Brexit playbook”, but said he would honour his commitment if the data was accurate.

“But if your scary stat turns out to be just tabloid fuel, then no apology needed. No drama. Instead, you’ll come to Albania — as my guest of honour,” he added. 

Speaking to The Telegraph, Farage said he would take up Rama’s challenge. “We will hold Edi Rama to his pledge,” he told the daily.

The one-in-50 figure cited by Farage was based on a calculation using UK Ministry of Justice and census data, indicating that around 1,227 Albanians were in prisons in England and Wales out of an estimated population of 52,000 Albanian nationals without UK passports, equating to approximately 2%.

Rama countered that many Albanians in the UK were “caught up in an outdated and restrictive visa system” and argued that the rate of criminality among Albanians in the UK was “no higher – and likely lower than – that of the British population itself”.

Rama added that if Farage’s figure proved inaccurate, he would invite Farage to Albania “as my guest of honour,” asking only that “next time someone badmouths Albanians, you’ll be the first to tell them… not to do it again”. 

The exchange continued on June 29, when Rama slammed Farage for doubling down on his claim, saying the figures he based it on were outdated. 

“Dear Nigel, numbers are clearly not your forte and so let’s be clear — YOU LOST,” Rama wrote. 

Accompanying his lengthy post was an image of himself and Farage in old fashioned bathing costumes on a beach together. 

“Looking forward to hosting you in Albania as promised, to share plenty of great sun, warm hospitality and real facts,” he concluded.