Tirana

On Monday and Tuesday, February 23 and 24, Alternate Foreign Minister Nikos Chountis will carry out a visit Tirana, where he will participate in the Meeting of Foreign Ministers of South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) member states being hosted by the Albanian SEECP Chairmanship.

During his stay in the Albanian capital, Chountis will have a series of meetings:

ROME - Serbia's and Albania's EU membership is of strategic importance for the stabilization and security of the entire Western Balkans, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has said after meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati in Rome.

BELGRADE - A trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Serbia, Albania and Italy, on Belgrade-Tirana relations and regional cooperation, was held in Rome on Friday.

The meeting was organized at the initiative of Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, and the participants included the foreign ministers of Serbia and Albania Ivica Dacic and Ditmir Bushati.

Balkan media unites in condemning Paris attacks

Regional media unites, calling the recent terrorism in Paris an attack on freedom of expression.

Journalists in the region united to condemn the recent terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo. [AFP]

TIRANA, Albania - Prosecutors in Italy say they fear more bodies will be found aboard the crippled Greek ferry Norman Atlantic, adrift for the third day after a fire broke out on a car deck, with 10 people killed in the ensuing chaos.

NYON - The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body announced Friday that the abandoned Euro 2016 qualifier between Serbia and Albania has the official score of 3-0 in favor of Serbia.

However, Serbia was also deducted three points by the UEFA's disciplinary committee and so neither side will get any points, the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) said in a release.

Records of treasury transactions published by Open Data Albania, a Tirana-based watchdog, show Albania's Ministry of Justice paid 36,000 lek (about 250 euros )to the Albanian Football Federation on October 8 for football tickets.

A trip of Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama to Serbian capital Belgrade was put off for November after Rama spoke to Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic, officials say.

The unprecedented visit was scheduled for last week, but heightened tensions over an abandoned football game prompted Belgrade and Tirana to change plans.

Albania on Oct. 19 condemned the burning of its flag during a football match in Serbia, the latest in a series of incidents aggravating political tensions between Belgrade and Tirana.

BELGRADE - Marko Djuric, director of the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo-Metohija, condemned on Sunday the attacks on property of members of the Albanian minority in Serbia that took place over the last few days in several cities in Serbia following the incident at the football match between Serbia and Albania.