Albania Parties Row Over Flood Response

Albanian opposition leader Lulzim Basha has attacked the government for leaving villages affected by floods feeling stranded.

After visiting the village of Feras in the region of Fier on Wednesday, he said: "Half of the homes are underwater? and the residents say that the government has not shown up.

"The situation is catastrophic but the Prime Minister refuses to decree a state of national emergency," he added.

The centre-right opposition Democratic Party has repeatedly called on the government of Edi Rama to decree a state of emergency after floods engulfed the regions of Vlora, Fier, Berat and Gjirokastra in southern Albania.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the area in the last three days and on Wednesday the Ministry of Interior said that rescue operations were continuing.

The government has rejected accusations of playing politics with a weather-related catastrophe. In a statement on Facebook Prime Minister Rama said that the opposition was behaving in a cheap manner.

"I applaud every symbolic help that the Democratic Party gives in front of cameras but I am appalled by their vulgar and empty anti-government propaganda," Rama said.