Event raises concerns over antisemitism row, reported €50 million temporary stadium, wider European backlash and criticism from Jewish communities.
TIRANA, May 11, 2026 – The planned concert of American rapper and producer Kanye West in Albania on July 11 has triggered growing public debate, with human rights activists and the Albanian Jewish Community warning that the event risks crossing a moral “red line” because of the artist’s repeated antisemitic statements, Holocaust denial and glorification of Adolf Hitler.
West, 48, is expected to perform as part of his 2026 tour. His arrival was announced on social media by Prime Minister Edi Rama, who described the event as a historic concert. The concert is expected to take place outside Tirana, between Tirana and Durres, where the government has reportedly planned the construction of a special temporary venue, the “Eagle Stadium,” with a capacity of around 60,000 people.
According to local media reports, the project has been presented as a strategic investment for tourism, with an estimated cost of around €50 million. Critics argue that the spending is difficult to justify if the stadium is to be dismantled shortly after the event. They say the same amount could instead be used for permanent sports infrastructure across Albania.
The financial dimension has added another layer to the controversy. Critics have questioned why public authority and state resources should facilitate what they describe as a one night spectacle, especially when ticket prices are expected to be high, starting from around €99 and reaching thousands of euros for VIP seats.
Beyond the cost, the announcement has drawn criticism because of West’s public record. Several European tour dates have reportedly been cancelled or postponed because of his statements, which have prompted strong reactions in countries such as France, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The backlash has also reached Portugal, where the Israeli Community of Lisbon has publicly opposed a planned Kanye West concert in the Algarve on Aug. 7. The community has asked the municipal councils of Faro and Loulé, as well as the national government, not to provide any public funding or support for the event.
David Botelho, president of the Israeli Community of Lisbon, told Portugal’s Lusa news agency that it was “shocking” that public resources were being mobilized for the concert. He said this would mean allowing “a known antisemite” to perform in Portugal in a public venue that belongs to everyone. Botelho described the situation as an “unacceptable normalization” of something that should not be normalized: hate speech. He added that West’s antisemitic statements, hate speech against Jews, Holocaust denial and public praise of Hitler and Nazism were well known.
In Albania, the Albanian Jewish Community also reacted strongly, saying the possibility of a Kanye West concert in the country is not an ordinary cultural development, but a choice that speaks to the country’s standards and identity as a society.
“This is not a matter of music, but a matter of meaning. It is not a matter of entertainment, but a matter of standards,” the community said in a public reaction.
The Albanian Jewish Community said West’s statements should not be treated as an isolated controversy, arguing that in recent years he has used his global platform to express views widely condemned as antisemitic. According to the statement, these were not momentary mistakes, but a repeated pattern that has generated strong reactions from communities, institutions and international public opinion.
“When such a pattern exists, silence is not neutrality — it is permission,” the statement said.
The community added that Albania, more than many other countries, cannot afford to ignore such a question because of its historic legacy during the Holocaust, when Albanians protected Jews despite the risks. It described that legacy as a rare moral heritage, built not through words but through concrete acts.
“Albania is not an empty stage waiting to be filled at any price,” the statement said, adding that the country carries a moral legacy shaped during the Holocaust, when Albanians chose to protect Jewish lives without asking about benefit or risk.
According to the Albanian Jewish Community, offering a public platform today to a figure associated with rhetoric targeting the Jewish community would not represent cultural openness, but a moral contradiction.
“Such a concert is not ‘just a concert.’ It is amplification. It is legitimization in the eyes of the public, even when this is not said directly,” the statement said.
The community also rejected the argument that art should always be separated from the artist, saying that this position is increasingly difficult to defend in a world where public figures are not only creators, but also shapers of narratives. When an artist’s influence is used to spread ideas that harm an entire community, it said, such a separation becomes an illusion.
The statement called on institutions, organizers and the public to recognize a responsibility that goes beyond economic interest. “Not everything that is demanded must be offered,” the community said, adding that there are moments when a country must choose not what is easier, but what is right.
For the Albanian Jewish Community, the issue is ultimately not only about a concert, but about the country’s moral character. “This is a test of character,” the statement said.
Human rights activists in Albania have raised similar concerns. They told BIRN that hosting the concert in these circumstances sends a troubling message.
“The problem here is not simply a concert or an artist. The problem is the message given when a country legitimizes or promotes figures who have normalized hate speech, antisemitism or the glorification of totalitarian figures that caused irreparable harm to humanity and collective memory,” journalist and human rights activist Isa Myzyraj said.
According to Myzyraj, Albania often appears willing to set aside principles for the sake of political spectacle and to attract the attention of younger audiences tired of traditional politics. But, he added, when this turns into the promotion of figures who have relativized antisemitism or glorified Hitler, “we are dealing with a red line that should not have been crossed.”
Gentian Sejrani, a lawyer and activist in Tirana, also described the event as part of a political approach chosen by Albania’s leadership. He noted what he called inconsistencies in Prime Minister Rama’s attitudes toward international figures.
“In the end, this is the political approach our prime minister has chosen to follow. Still, it remains to be seen how representatives of the State of Israel in our country will react,” Sejrani said.
Activists also pointed to what they see as a contradiction in Rama’s own positioning. Myzyraj noted that only a few months ago the Albanian prime minister addressed the Knesset, presenting himself as a strong supporter of Israel and of the fight against antisemitism.
The debate, therefore, has become both ethical and financial: whether Albania should host and promote a deeply controversial artist, whether a temporary stadium costing tens of millions of euros can be justified as tourism promotion, and whether the country’s institutions should draw a clearer line when public spectacle collides with historical memory and hate speech.
“The questions are many, but the answer always seems to be the same: Kanye West will come to Albania, and that is it,” Myzyraj concluded.
Source: BIRN / Reporter.al; Gazeta Telegraf; TPZ; Portuguese media reports citing Lusa.
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