Albania's ambassador to the United Kingdom has met with Nigel Farage to tell him that the leader of the Reform UK party was repeating false information by claiming that one in 50 Albanians in Britain were in prison, according to a report by The Guardian.
"It is completely false, yet it is being repeated in the UK news and by politicians," said Ambassador Uran Ferizi, who attended the Reform UK conference.
"It is a misinterpretation of official statistics which are taken and used to come up with various claims that bear no resemblance to reality."
Albania's Prime Minister, Edi Rama, has already clashed with Farage online over the Reform UK leader's use of this figure. Data from the Albanian embassy in the UK has contradicted reports that the number of Albanians in the UK is 53,000, which was used as the source for the one in 50 claim.
Ferizi said: "I told him it was deeply unfair to spread these lies in essence. They are simply not true. My perception was that he was open when he heard this and understood this.
"I also made it known that Albanians were a very good example of people who integrate well in Britain. They work hard, learn the language, the customs and the rules of the country. I told him that it was deeply unfair to a country that prides itself on justice and he seemed to appreciate that," he said.
Meanwhile, Farage announced today that he had accepted Prime Minister Edi Rama's invitation to visit Albania and said that in the coming weeks he would have lunch with the head of the Albanian government.
