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POLITICS

Italy settles restaurant bill for rogue diners in Albania

Italy's embassy in Albania settled a restaurant bill left unpaid by four holidaying Italians after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni demanded diplomats address it as a matter of national pride.

Published: 19 August 2023 08:37 CEST
Italy settles restaurant bill for rogue diners in Albania
A view of Berat, Albania, where a group of Italian holidaymakers recently left a restaurant without paying their bill. Photo by GENT SHKULLAKU / AFP

News of the tourists’ decision to run off after dinner in the picturesque central city of Berat made headlines in Albania’s media, and featured heavily on social networks.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama revealed he had raised the incident with Meloni when they met this week while she herself was holidaying in his country – and she immediately stepped in.

According to Rama’s account of the event, Meloni “made a face and asked the ambassador to ‘go and pay the bill for these idiots, please, and put out a statement!. Italy cannot lose respect like this!'” 

The Italian embassy in Albania confirmed on Friday it had acted on her orders and paid what Italian media said had been an 80 euro ($87) tab for four people.

Source: Italian Embassy in Tirana

“On the recommendation of the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, we settled the bill left unpaid by a group of Italian tourists at a restaurant in the city of Berat,” it said in a statement.

“Italians respect the rules and pay their debts, and we hope that this kind of episode will not happen again.”

Several Italian news outlets have reported a surge in Italian tourists heading across the Adriatic Sea for their holidays this year, in search of cheaper deals and quieter beaches.

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POLITICS

Italy’s press freedom ranking drops amid fears of government ‘censorship’

Italy's ranking for press freedom worsened in 2024, with concerns about the silencing effect of defamation lawsuits and accusations of political influence over the country's media.

Published: 3 May 2024 09:43 CEST
Italy’s press freedom ranking drops amid fears of government 'censorship'

The annual World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday ranked Italy 46th, which was five places lower than in 2023 and behind all other western European countries and most EU member states.

Italy ranked alongside Poland (47th), while Hungary, Malta, Albania and Greece were the only other countries in Europe to score lower.

France, Spain, Germany and most other major European countries improved their ranking in 2024, with Norway, Denmark and Sweden topping the table for press freedom again this year.

Globally however press freedom has worsened due to political attacks in the past year, according to RSF, including the detention of journalists, suppression of independent media outlets and widespread dissemination of misinformation.

READ ALSO: How much control does Giorgia Meloni’s government have over Italian media?

The index ranks 180 countries on the ability of journalists to work and report freely and independently.

Italy fell in the ranking amid concerns about lawsuits filed against journalists by politicians and following recent allegations of a creeping government influence on the country’s media.

“For the most part, Italian journalists enjoy a climate of freedom,” RSF said.

“But they sometimes give in to the temptation to censor themselves, either to conform to their news organisation’s editorial line, or to avoid a defamation suit or other form of legal action, or out of fear of reprisals by extremist groups or organised crime.”

Italian journalists have in recent months alleged censorship at state broadcaster Rai, which critics say is increasingly influenced by Giorgia Meloni’s government, while a member of her coalition government is trying to acquire news agency AGI.

Italian journalists also “denounce attempts by politicians to obstruct their freedom to cover judicial cases by means of a “gag law” – legge bavaglio – on top of the SLAPP procedures that are common practice in Italy,” RSF said.

READ ALSO: ‘Warning’ to Italy’s journalists as court fines reporter for defaming Meloni

It noted the fact that ‘defamation’ remains a crime in Italy, and that this is often used in lawsuits filed against individual journalists by powerful public figures – such as in the high-profile 2023 case of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suing anti-mafia journalist Roberto Saviano.

Defamation through the media can be punished in Italy with prison sentences of between six months to three years.

Mafia threats also remain a major issue in Italy, RSF noted, where some 20 journalists are under round-the-clock police protection after being the targets of intimidation and attacks.

“Journalists who investigate organised crime and corruption are systematically threatened and sometimes subjected to physical violence for their investigative work,” RSF said.

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