President Ilir Meta said the article published in Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung accusing him of paying $700,000 to take a picture with US former President Donald Trump on the day he took the presidential oath is “entirely a fabrication recycled” from the Socialist Party.

Asked by Euronews Albania journalist Ardit Hoxha about his stance on the article, Meta responded that he has notified the Albanian Embassy in Vienna and warned that he intends to press charges against the authors of the article.

“I will take the case to a court in Vienna. It’s all a hoax. I have been taking pictures like this one with personalities from all over the world for over 30 years. I have neither paid nor will I pay a single dime for any kind of photo or lobbying”, he said.

“I wouldn’t have sued them, if I weren’t in my current post. We will go trial and there is great competition from lawyers over there to represent me in court”, he added.