Latest News from Albania
Montenegro Journalist Rejects Drugs Smuggling Charge
Presenting his defence before the court in Podgorica on Thursday, investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic pleaded not guilty to drugs smuggling, saying his contacts with the other suspects in the case were purely linked to his work as a journalist.
Albanian PM warns EU against leaving 'vacuum' in the Balkans
Russia and Islamist militants could try to boost their influence in the Balkan nations if the European Union doesn't take them in as members, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview published on Wednesday.
Rama told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung it was in the EU's interests to try and bring Balkan states into its fold.
"Greater Albania ushered in through the back door"
The Union of Albanian Municipalities in the Region has been formed in Tirana, Albania, on the occasion of the Albanian national holiday, November 28.
This union is made up of Tirana, Pristina, Tetovo, Ulcinj, and Presevo, with an agreement of cooperation signed by the mayors of the five towns.
PKS to take Serbian companies to Tirana fair
BELGRADE - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (PKS) has announced that it is organizing a presentation of 25 Serbian companies at the Tirana International Fair, to be held on November 24-28.
B92 and Albanian Daily News sign MoU
Serbia's B92 media outlet and the Albanian Daily News (ADN) newspaper from Albania have inked a memorandum of understanding.
The document was signed on Friday in Tirana by ADN Director General Anisa Skendaj and B92 President of the Board of Directors Veran Matic.
Kosovo Expert Downplays US Terrorist Attack Warning
Shpend Kursani, from the Kosovar Center for Security Studies, says large-scale terrorist attacks organized by groups like ISIS are unlikely to affect the Balkans over the coming holiday.
BIRN Albania Wins Landmark Verdict on Secret Files
An Administrative Court in Tirana has ordered Albania's main intelligence agency, SHISH, to de-classify reports of the former Communist-era Sigurimi secret police and its data on the number of people kept under surveillance during the last decade of the Communist regime.
Albanian Greens Press Parliament on Waste Imports
Environmentalist protesters rallied at dawn on Thursday in front of Albania's parliament to urge ruling party MPs not to push for another vote on a controversial law on waste imports.
Greens fear the MPs intend to adopt the law once again after President Bujar Nishani in mid-October refused to authorize it.
Albania Town Declares Trump Honorary Citizen
In a surprise move, the Mayor of Kamza, Xhelal Mziu, a town of more than 100,000 inhabitants near the Albanian capital, has declared US President-elect Donald Trump an Honorary Citizen.
Mziu, who comes from the opposition centre-right Democratic Party, announced the decision on a Facebook post and on the council website.
Albanian PM raises Cham community claim, calls for all-encompassing talks
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has denied his country is following an irredentist foreign policy with its insistence on discussing the issue of claims made by the Cham community to the property they left behind when they were expelled from Greece during World War II.
Albania PM Highlights Cham Plight on Greek TV
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has again returned to the vexed issue of the exiled Cham community in a Greek TV interview broadcast on Tuesday.
Rama said it was a perfect Balkanic paradox that Albania and Greece remained "de jure" in a state of war despite signing a treaty of friendship in 1987.
Mitsotakis: Government incompetent
Addressing his parliamentary group, Wednesday, New Democracy (ND) president Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused the coalition government of SYRIZA-ANEL of lacking a coherent foreign policy plan amid times of uncertainty.
ND calls for joint strategy on Albania
Giorgos Koumoutsakos, New Democracy's shadow minister for foreign affairs and defense, on Wednesday called for a meeting of the National Council on Foreign Policy (NCFP) in a bid to hammer out a unified strategy on Greek-Albanian relations.
Albanian PM: We lay no territorial claims against Greece (video)
In an interview to Skai TV and journalist Alexis Papachelas, Albanian PM Edi Rama said that there was no plan for the autonomy of Chamouria, an area in Greece disputed by Albanian nationalists. The Albanian PM stressed that the idea of a “Natural Albania” derived from those who feared it, adding that such a plan was neither “expected nor serious”. “I challenge you to search.
Albania PM reiterates Cham community claims
In a bid to take the sting out of a string of incendiary remarks, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has denied his country is following an irredentist foreign policy with its insistence on discussing the issue of claims made by the Cham community to the property they left behind when they were expelled from Greece during World War II.