Nigel Farage to meet Rama over deportation of foreign criminals

British MP and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage declared he will have lunch with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in the coming weeks to discuss the deportation of foreign criminals, which he described as a threat to UK national security.

Why is this important: The declaration follows a heated exchange between Rama and Farage earlier this summer over the number of Albanians imprisoned in the UK. Farage has made deportations and stopping migrant boat crossings central to his party’s political agenda.

Context: Speaking at a Reform UK event, Farage declared: “We will deport foreign criminals. I will go to lunch in a few weeks with the Prime Minister of Albania. I might book a very big plane and take a load back with me, I’m not sure yet. We will stop what is a threat to our national security, what is a risk to girls and women on our streets. We will stop the boats and we will stop and deport those who enter illegally into our country, doing what almost every normal country in the world does.”

The remarks came after a public row in July, when Farage claimed that one in 50 Albanians in the UK was in prison. Rama disputed the figure, calling it false and offensive, and argued the true ratio was one in 100. Rama then invited Farage to visit Tirana, an invitation Farage has now accepted.