Tirana, Albania (Tirana Times). Prime Minister Edi Rama’s attempt at humor during a European summit turned into a viral spectacle on Thursday, overshadowing the European Political Community’s agenda in Copenhagen and sparking both international scrutiny and domestic criticism.
The incident unfolded when Rama, known for injecting jokes into international meetings, mocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated gaffe confusing Albania with Armenia. On camera, Rama leaned toward French President Emmanuel Macron and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, saying they should “apologize” for not congratulating Albania on a peace deal Trump once claimed to have brokered between Albania and Azerbaijan. Macron, smiling but visibly uneasy, tapped Rama on the face, while Aliyev burst into laughter.
The exchange might have passed as light banter inside the hall. Instead, the footage quickly spread worldwide. Politico, The Telegraph, Euronews, the American media and Russian outlet RT described the moment as European leaders poking fun at Trump, while Italian and British media amplified the images. Analysts noted that the prime minister’s theatrics overshadowed the summit’s real agenda : discussions on security, energy, and enlargement.
Trump’s slip confusing Albania with Armenia during peace efforts in the South Caucasus had long been mocked internationally. Rama’s decision to revive it, however, appeared to place Albania at the center of ridicule rather than diplomacy. Instead of projecting statesmanship, he was portrayed as the summit’s “jester.”
By evening, Rama sought to contain the backlash. He wrote that “it is remarkable how today’s media operates, and how the so-called virality can so easily distort reality,” arguing that a sentence spoken “in good humor, in the spirit of friendship, suddenly turns into a worldwide headline of an entire summit among dozens of nations, while all the rest, the real substance, becomes irrelevant.” He insisted it had been “a lighthearted moment” and called it unfair “to twist it into political venom.”
In a notable pivot, Rama went further by praising Trump, calling him “a leader who restored the word peace to the vocabulary of the West after many years,” and saying that “in a remarkably short time, he achieved peace where others tried but failed and continues to pursue it tirelessly.” He concluded that the Copenhagen exchange was “nothing more than a moment of good humor among people who are, in fact, among President Trump’s greatest admirers.”
In Tirana, the viral moment is expected to hand new ammunition to Rama’s critics, who have long argued that the prime minister relies on theatrics and personal showmanship rather than substance in international forums. With Albania still facing challenges in its EU accession path and under pressure over governance issues, the episode risks being framed at home as another instance where image overtook substance.
Rama has cultivated an image of wit and flamboyance on the international stage. Yet Thursday’s episode underscored the risks of mixing humor with diplomacy at high-level summits. What drew laughter in the room resonated differently once broadcast worldwide, not as camaraderie, but as evidence of leaders mocking the U.S. president.
For Albania, a NATO member reliant on strong ties with Washington, the incident was more than just a passing joke. It illustrated how quickly a viral clip can derail a summit’s narrative, shift global headlines, and provide new fuel for domestic critics.
Whether Rama’s backpedaling and praise for Trump will be enough to neutralize the backlash remains uncertain. What is clear is that for a day, Copenhagen’s discussions on Europe’s future were eclipsed, replaced by a meme of Albania’s prime minister, a recycled Trump blunder, and the unpredictable power of virality in diplomacy.
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