Latest News from Albania

For years, the Balkan lynx has struggled to survive as deforestation destroyed its habitat and poachers targeted the elusive mountain cat along with the animals it relies on for food.

European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas has expressed "serious concern" over the continued incarceration by the Albanian authorities of an ethnic-Greek official who was elected mayor of Himare in May.

With regard to the continued imprisonment of the ethnic Greek mayor of Himare, Fredi Beleri, Greek diplomatic sources have stressed that, as a candidate for EU membership, Albania must strictly respect his right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.

As anticipated, the recent meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius did not yield any significant progress regarding the case of ethnic Greek mayor-elect Fredi Beleri in Himare, southern Albania.

Faruk Fatih Özer, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency platform Thodex, has been sentenced to seven months and 15 days in prison for failing to submit requested documents to the Tax Inspection Board.

Özer's case was heard at the Anatolian 17th Criminal Court of First Instance, with the defendant connected via the audio and video information system (SEGBİS).

TIRANA - Serbian PM Ana Brnabic attended an informal meeting of Western Balkan leaders in Tirana on Monday.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Brnabic said initiatives as part of Open Balkan and a Berlin Process summit to be hosted by Albania had been discussed at the meeting.

Italy's ambitions toward Albanian-inhabited territories started in the late-19th century when the region belonged to the Ottoman Empire. They culminated with the occupation of Albania on April 7, 1939. Eighty years have passed since the end of Italy's imperialist dreams in the Balkans, but their legacy still haunts Italian-Albanian relations.