Latest News from Albania
Albania MP Seeks End to Ban on Growing Hemp
A government MP in Albania is preparing an amendment to the law code that will permit the cultivation of hemp, or so-called "industrial cannabis", in the country.
Villages in the Malesia e Madhe in northern Albania grew hemp for years for use in the textile and oil industries but stopped doing so in 2000 when Albania classified hemp as a narcotic.
German Investors Disappointed by Bulgaria's Corruption, Judiciary
High levels of corruption, the unpredictable judicial system, and low professional and academic qualification of the workforce are the three factors in Bulgaria that investors find most disappointing, a recent annual poll shows.
Media Freedom Report Singles out Bulgaria, Macedonia
Reporters Without Borders, which advocates for media freedom and protection of journalists' rights around the world, on Wednesday released its 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
It ranks press freedom in 180 countries using the following criteria - pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative environment, transparency, infrastructures and abuses.
President recalls WW1 retreat, thanks Greece, other allies
Tomislav Nikolic was on the Greek island of Vido on Monday, where he spoke on the 100th anniversary of the landing there of the evacuated Serbian troops.
The Kingdom of Serbia soldiers and a part of the population started retreating toward the Mediterranean via Albania after the triple German-Austrian-Bulgarian WW1 invasion of the country in the winter of 1915-16.
Albania PM Talks Balkans and Security With Obama
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama scored a propaganda coup on Thursday with a meeting with US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in Washington.
Officially held to mark the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, the two leaders discussed terrorism, Albania's role in the Balkans - and baseball among other matters.
US Rights Report Highlights Corruption in Balkans
The US State Department 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - presented to Congress on Wednesday - highlighted corruption, the rule of law and discrimination as the main problems in the Balkans.
"In the arena of human rights, every government has the ability to improve," Secretary of State John Kerry said, presenting the report.
Albania Starts Preparing for Diaspora Summit
Ahead of a major summit of Albanian diaspora communities from around the world, Albania is mulling the best ways of utilizing its large diaspora.
On November 2016, for the first time, the government plans to hold the first-ever diaspora summit, also marking 25 years of post-communist migration.
Campaigners say Power Plants will Wreck 'Albania's Alps'
Environmental activists and local residents are upping their campaign to stop the building of six hydropower plants on the Valbona river, arguing that they will destroy tourism in what some call the "Albanian Alps".
Religious Education Plan Worries Albania's Teachers
Some Albanian teachers and professors have criticised a government initiative to include religious education and history as a compulsory course in secondary and high schools.
Prime Minister Edi Rama on Friday announced the move at a ceremony commemorating the birthday of the Prophet Muhammed and the Minister of Education, Lindita Nikolla, confirmed the plan on Monday.
Democracy Declining in Balkans, Warns Freedom House
After substantial progress from 2004 to 2010, democracy in the Balkans has declined for six years according to US-based NGO Freedom House's annual report on democracy in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, which was published on Tuesday.
Greece to Discuss Migration Crisis with Neighbours at Two April Meetings
Greece will hold two meetings on migration with several of its neighbours in the next two weeks, the country's Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has said.
The meetings, planned for April 14 and April 21-22, will take place in Thessaloniki, Greek news agency ANA-MPA quoted Kotzias as saying at a press briefing on Friday.
Activists Interrupt Kosovo President's Inauguration
Opposition Vetevendosje activists threw tear gas to interrupt the inauguration of Kosovo's new President, Hashim Thaci, in Pristina on Friday.
The inauguration ceremony on the Skedenderbeu boulevard was briefly halted while the police arrested some of the perpetrators.
Fabio Tambone: Projects Like TAP Ease the Construction of a Common Market
An interview with Fabio Tambone, Head of Institutional International Relations Unit, Directorate for Institutional and External Relations at the Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity, Gas and Water.
Mr. Tambone, do you think that the Southern Gas Corridor will be implemented within the scheduled deadline having in mind the current political situation?
Albania President Blocks Surveillance Law
Experts see dangers in the way the government is approaching people's privacy. Alfred Olli, an expert in civil and public safety, told BIRN on Tuesday that the government cannot violently impose surveillance on citizens against their will.
Albanian ISIS Militant Reported Dead
Albanian media reported on Sunday that Daci, also known as Ebu Belkisa, who had been fighting alongside ISIS in the Middle East, has died.
Local media quoted his relatives as saying they had been informed by Daci's wife that the 33-year-old former imam from the village of Leshnica, in the Pogradec area of eastern Albania, was dead.