Albania's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports, Blendi Gonxhja, said the government decided to finance Kanye West's concert to ensure the event would not fail, arguing that its cancellation would also have damaged Albania's image.

Gonxhja clarified that the €4 million allocated for the concert did not come from the country's emergency fund but from the government's reserve fund, which is intended for unforeseen expenditures.

He explained that the reserve fund can be used to finance events that were not included in a ministry's annual budget but arise on short notice and are considered to be in the public interest.

"There is nothing illegal about this decision," Gonxhja said, noting that the funding was approved through a normative act, which provides the necessary legal authorization when the government determines that extraordinary circumstances justify immediate action.

The minister stressed that no funding was diverted from hospitals, public programs, or other budgeted sectors. He described the reserve fund as a limited budget specifically intended to address unforeseen needs that meet the legal criteria for exceptional government intervention.

Gonxhja acknowledged that the concert had initially been presented as a self-financed event. However, he said the situation changed in the final days before the event, prompting the government to intervene after assessing the potential risks and broader impact.

According to the minister, the government concluded that ensuring the concert went ahead would generate significantly greater benefits than allowing it to be cancelled, arguing that the economic, tourism, and reputational gains outweighed the cost of the public contribution.