Latest News from Albania
Embark on a Journalistic Journey: BIRN’s Reporting Democracy Launches New Call for Travel and Reporting Programme
As part of our unwavering commitment to fostering journalistic cooperation and knowledge exchange between regions, we are thrilled to announce the launch of our Travel & Reporting Grants Program.
Albania Detains 45 in Anti-Drugs Bust Focused on Elbasan
An Albanian ant-drugs operation focused on the town of Elbasan and some areas nearby in central Albania - an area well known for its crime and drugs presence - has resulted in 45 detentions. Seven more suspects remain at large.
Mayor’s case thorn in Athens-Tirana relations
The message from Athens to Tirana in Greek Ambassador Konstantina Kamitsi's statements to the Albanian press by was clear: The ongoing detainment of the ethnic Greek mayor-elect of Himare in Albania will be a thorn in the side of Greek-Albanian relations for some time to come.
BIRN Presents ‘Telco Accountability Research Using Ranking Digital Rights Methodology’
On the third day of the Internet Freedom Meet in Belgrade, BIRN presented its months-long research report titled "Hidden in Plain Sight: Telco Accountability Research Using Ranking Digital Rights Methodology".
The research showed that the customers of telecom companies in five Balkan countries and Moldova face challenges in making sure their rights to privacy are respected.
Some Telco Users in Balkans, Moldova, in Dark over Rights
Applying methodology developed by Ranking Digital Rights, an independent research programme at the Washington-based New America policy think-tank, BIRN analysed the practices of the two biggest telecom companies in each country: Albtelecom and Vodafone Albania in Albania; BH Telecom and Telekom Srpske in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Ipko and Vala in Kosovo; A1 and T-Mobile in North Macedonia; Moldce
Balkan Mobile Users Roam Freely – Unless They’re in Kosovo
Western Balkan Ministers for Telecommunications signing the agreement in Belgrade to gradually remove all roaming costs in the region. Photo: Information Society Ministry of North Macedonia.
Coverage limited in northern Kosovo
Greece’s ambassador to Albania describes mayor’s treatment as ‘blow to rule of law’
Greece's ambassador to Albania has described the absence of the mayor-elect of the predominantly ethnic Greek city of Himare in southern Albania from the first meeting of its new council as a "great blow to the rule of law and the presumption of innocence."
Himare mayor-elect lashes out at Albanian PM
The mayor-elect of the predominantly ethnic Greek city of Himare in southern Albania lashed out against the country's Prime Minister Edi Rama after authorities refused to grant him leave from pretrial detention to take his mayoral oath.
Waiting Game: Afghan Refugees Stuck in Albania Long for America
Afghan refugees who came to Albania in 2021, expecting to move quickly on to the US, are finding their prolonged stay in the Balkan country frustrating.
Turkish renewable energy companies investing abroad
Turkish companies are increasingly entering foreign markets for renewable energy investments, an expert has said.
FM decries Albania’s denial of special release
The Greek Foreign Ministry has slammed the refusal of Albanian authorities of the request by the detained elected mayor of Himare, Fredi Beleri, for special leave to attend and take the oath of office on Tuesday at the Municipal Council's first meeting.
Ethnic Greek mayor unable to attend swearing-in ceremony in Himare
The swearing-in ceremony for the elected mayor of Himare in Albania, Fredi Beleri, is scheduled for Tuesday but cannot take place while he still remains in custody.
According to Albanian legislation a deputy mayor, appointed by a council of ministers controlled by the ruling Socialist Party, will have to take office.
"Rama has no credibility, he is close to Serbia"
The former chief negotiator of the so-called Kosovo in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Edita Tahiri characterized the draft of the CSM proposed by the Prime Minister of Albania as biased.
According to her, Edi Rama lost his credibility on the so-called Kosovo because he supports Serbia and is close to the President of Serbia, writes the Pristina press Kosovo online.
One Dead as Albanian Police Raid Iranian Oppositionists’ Compound
One person died on Tuesday as police raided the compound of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (People's Mujahedin of Iran), MEK in Mezez near Durres in Albania and clashed with some of the Iranian oppositionist group's members.
In Montenegro, Memories of Pain and Generosity on the Refugee Road
Dejan, then 20, had been nearing the end of his military service in Kosovo, then a southern province of Serbia, when NATO launched air strikes to halt a brutal Serbian counter-insurgency war. At the time, Serbia and Montenegro were all that was left of Yugoslavia, still joined together after the other four republics - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia - had seceded.