Did the Albanian prime minister describe the "three major devils in the world" as being the U.S., the Soviet Union and Israel while speaking in front of the U.S. secretary of state Anthony Blinken? No, that's not true: A video clip used in a social media post is missing context. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was explaining the history of his country and referring to how the strict Communist regime of a former era viewed the world and its "three major devils" back then.
The claim appeared in a post and video on X, formerly Twitter, (archived here) on June 16, 2024. The caption read, "Albanian PM whit US Secretary Blinken in face,said - 3 major devils in the world .....US, USSR and Israel." The on-screen text read:
The Prime Minister of Albania talks about the three evil things in the world, in front of Blinken (lotta balls on him)
This is what the X post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Jun 18 14:16:29 2024 UTC)
In the post's video, Rama and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken are standing at two separate podiums speaking to an unseen audience. Rama talks for the entirety of the 19-second clip, with the video implying that when he speaks of "three major devils," he is referring to present times when he lists the U.S., the Soviet Union and Israel.
But the implication is false.
The original footage is from a February 2024 joint press availability in Tirana, Albania, where Blinken and Rama took questions from reporters. The full video is here (archived here) and the full transcript can be found here. During the session, Rama was asked by a reporter about Albania's recognition of Palestine in 1988. He answers with a brief summary of Albanian's political climate at that time, stating:
To give you a little background, Albania was a communist dictatorship, and our dictator was one of the closest friends and allies of the Palestinian Liberation Organization ... our regime was very viciously against three major devils - United States, Soviet Union, and Israel ...
The video clip in the X post begins during those remarks about Albania's world view during a previous regime.
More Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Blinken are here.
Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Albania are here.
