Albania’s prime minister on Wednesday defended a decision to spend €4 million ($4.56 million) on a concert by U.S. rapper Kanye West, as he sought to defuse anger over the event that has added heat to public protests and demands for his resignation.
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Kanye West, who is also known as Ye, has been banned from performing in several European countries this summer following remarks that have included praise of Adolf Hitler and content featuring Nazi imagery. He has since apologized for some of those remarks.
The concert, scheduled for July 11 just outside Tirana, will take place in a makeshift stadium constructed specifically for the event.
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama in Ankara, Turkey on July 8.Altan Gocher / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images
“We allocated €4 million at the last minute to avoid embarrassing Albania in the eyes of nearly 25,000 foreign visitors from 80 countries who had already purchased tickets to see Kanye West, while many others were wary that the concert might be cancelled,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Facebook.
Rama said the event was expected to generate at least €100 million in revenue for the country after a surge in accommodation bookings around the time of the concert.
Rama’s announcement attracted a flow of negative comments on his Facebook page.
“Albania is disgraced when it welcomes a singer who admires Hitler,” one commenter said. “Shame, not with my money!” said another. Daily protests have taken place in Tirana for more than a month. They were sparked by plans for a luxury resort by U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The protesters later denounced other coastal development projects near protected areas and have also demanded the resignation of Rama, accusing his government of corruption, a claim Rama denies.