An incident occurred during the Sustainability Summit in Abu Dhabi, when the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, verbally attacked a Greek-American journalist who was moderating the discussion.
The remarks were directed at John Defterios, a CNN journalist, who mispronounced the names of the Albanian Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić, during the introduction of the speakers, according to protothema.gr.
While the Montenegrin Prime Minister limited his response to a mild correction, following encouragement from the moderator himself, Mr. Rama reacted with visible irritation, claiming that the mistake occurred “because he is Greek.”
According to the same report, tensions escalated later when Mr. Rama referred to the UAE Minister of Energy, Sultan Al Jaber, describing him as a “mentor” and asking the moderator whether he knew him. Mr. Defterios responded with a smile, in what appeared to be a humorous tone, a reaction that the Albanian Prime Minister did not take lightly.
Mr. Rama then launched another verbal attack, stating: As a Greek … you always underestimate people because you believe you have a monopoly on philosophy and are the direct heirs of Plato and Aristotle, but you are not.”
🇦🇱 Albanian PM Edi Rama joked about Greeks and Montenegro during a panel discussion in the UAE:
"As a Greek … you always underestimate people because you believe you have a monopoly on philosophy and are the direct heirs of Plato and Aristotle, but you are not."
"Montenegro… pic.twitter.com/q8yw12vd9K
— kos_data (@kos_data) January 14, 2026
