section_path: Controversies/Other controversies
section_name: Other controversies
paragraph_text: Other controversies
  
  A photograph of Rama and Barack Obama at a fundraising event in October 2012 was shared by Rama on Facebook and Twitter ahead of Albania's 2013 Parliamentary Election, to imply a relationship with Obama. Rama's ticket to the event was purchased for $80,000 through intermediaries that pled guilty to making foreign contributions in connection with the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election.
  
  At the beginning of December 2021, on board a Lufthansa plane headed to Detroit from Frankfurt, Rama refused to wear a mask as required by the company's COVID-safety guidelines. After Rama vehemently refused, the airplane crew asked the captain to persuade the prime minister to comply with the rules as with all the other passengers. However, Rama refused any proposal and was then escorted off by the federal police.