It seems The Times has done little to foster happy relations between the UK and Albania after splashing plans this morning to process illegal migrants in the country. In a complaint letter sent in full to Guido, the country’s ambassador, Qirjako Qirko, slams the paper, rejecting “all the claims included in it” and confirming “there are no bilateral talks between the Albanian and British Government’s officials regarding processing centres for illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel.”
He also goes in for the piece’s author, Tom Newton Dunn, personally:
“I would like to bring to the reader’s attention the fact that during a brief phone conversation that I had yesterday with Mr Tom Newton Dunn, the journalist that wrote the article, I explicitly underlined that the Albanian Government will never agree to opening of such processing centres for illegal immigrants as this is an act that violates the International Law. I am really disappointed that he has failed to mention that in his article. This reflects a lack of professionalism and biasness.”
Among the article’s errors, Albania’s foreign minister Olta Xhaçka had to point out Newton Dunn had also got her sex wrong:
Same old fake news this time in the front page of a respected paper as The Times!
— Olta Xhaçka🇦🇱 (@xhacka_olta) November 18, 2021
And btw I am not a "he" but a "she" who has always admired the quality of British media. Sad. pic.twitter.com/UVcaiGt3N3
Unfortunately Priti and her Home Office advisors currently appear to be asleep in the US. Should be a fun one to wake up to…
Read the furious complaint letter in full below:
