Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride was left red-faced after twice confusing Albania with Romania on live radio.
The cabinet minister made the embarrassing gaffe as he defended the government’s Rwanda plan on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme.
Presenter Mishal Husain said Rishi Sunak was on course to break his promise to stop the small boats carrying migrants across the Channel from France.
She said: “Numbers are no longer down compared to last year. The first six months of this year are now the same as 2022.
“You’re not going to be able to stop the boats, are you?”
Stride said the government had a number of policies in place to help it hit its target.
He said: “For example, we’ve had a deal with Romania which has now meant that by returning people straight away to Romania, the number of Romanians coming here has dropped.”
Husain asked him: “Do you mean Albania?”
The minister said: “Sorry, I do mean Albania - I beg your pardon.”
Later in the interview, Stride again referred to “the Romania deal” before again having to correct himself.
He was trying to refer to an agreement the UK has reached with Albania which sees migrants returned to that country if they make it to Britain.
Elsewhere in the interview, Stride insisted the PM will keep his promise if the Commons passes the Illegal Migration Bill and the Supreme Court rules that the policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful.
He said: “These things will take time, but if we can get the stop the boats bill through and we can get our arrangements in place with Rwanda through the Supreme Court and we can do those things, then we can make real and clear progress and that’s what this government is absolutely determined to do.”