This is normal for smaller countries. eg. Most 80s and 90s kids raised in the coastal/western part of Albania know Italian. The reason is simply TV.
Albania had just one government channel during the communist times, and after communism fell we had maybe 3 good ones, and a bunch of locally small ones.
Italian TV was the only way to see some good tv, and since Albania is next to Italy, pretty much all the kids of that generation know italian, this is especially since Italians dub/voice over the Hollywood movies shown.
After 2000s, English started becoming mainstream, and local TVs did start becoming much better, and they do show movies in English (with subtitles), and don't generally dub them.
So, know English is slowly overtaking Italian as a foreign language, with German becoming a popular third foreign language.
Italian TV was the only way to see some good tv, and since Albania is next to Italy, pretty much all the kids of that generation know italian, this is especially since Italians dub/voice over the Hollywood movies shown.
After 2000s, English started becoming mainstream, and local TVs did start becoming much better, and they do show movies in English (with subtitles), and don't generally dub them.
So, know English is slowly overtaking Italian as a foreign language, with German becoming a popular third foreign language.