Latest News from Albania
Observers’ Mission Criticizes Albania’s One-Party Elections
Ambassador Audrey Glover, head of the observers mission, during a press conference in Tirana on July 1. Photo: Gjergj Erebara/BIRN
In a preliminary report presented in Tirana on Monday, the mission said the elections were held "with little regard for the interests of the electorate".
Non-historical day for Edi Rama
The elections were held in the tense atmosphere due to the fear of potential incidents, that were avoided.
Apart from the low turnout, those elections will be remembered by the boycott of the opposition that happened for the first time after the fall of the Communist regime in the country back in 1990, Macedonian web portal a1on reports.
Cheaper Roaming From Today Between the Western Balkan Countries
From July 2021, charges will be completely eliminated, writes NOVA TV.
Prices for roaming services between Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina will be down by 27% today, and by July 2021, they will be completely eliminated.
Albania Avoids Violence in Contested Local Elections
Fears of violence receded in Albania on Sunday in contested local elections that most of the opposition parties boycotted. However, a low turnout by mid-afternoon suggested that the Socialist-led government would struggle to present the election results as democratically legitimate.
Albania Braces for Elections Amid Fears of Violence
An unknown number of Albanians will go to the polls this Sunday to elect 61 Mayors and 1,590 members of local councils in the most contested elections held in the country since the collapse of Communism almost three decades ago.
Albanian Police Injured in Attack on Election Centre
Albania opposition supporters protesting against Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana on June 21 2019. Photo: Gjergj Erebara/BIRN
The attack occurred on Thursday evening when about 200 people assembled at the election centre of the Municipality of Vau i Dejws, an opposition Democratic Party stronghold.
Dangerous Illusions and Unholy Alliances
Unholy Ties
The new Moldovan government led by Maia Sandu seems to be one of contradictions. It is in the rather rare position of being both pro-EU and pro-Russian at once by virtue of the parties which comprise it.
Hungary Refuses to Extradite Gruevski to North Macedonia
A court in Hungary has rejected a demand from North Macedonia for former prime minister Nikola Gruevski to be extradited to start serving his two-year prison sentence for illegally soliciting the secret purchase of a 580,000-euro Mercedes in 2012.
Why Isn’t Albania Cashing in on Renewable Energy?
In this impoverished, struggling country, there is wealth lying just about everywhere you look, and yet no one is earning a cent from it. Even the most obvious no-brainer - solar thermal energy - is found on rooftops only sporadically in the north and not at all in the south. The contrast to Italy and Greece, where rooftop solar thermal systems are common, is glaring.
Cheaper Roaming for the Countries of the Western Balkans
Roaming charges between Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina in July will be reduced by 27% and will have to be dropped completely in 2021, according to the recently signed Regional Roaming Treaty between the Western Balkan countries.
Albania Orthodox Church Condemns ‘Sacrilegious’ Electioneering in Churches
Mayor of Tepelena Termet Peci (centre) addressing supporters in the Church of St Nicolas in the village of Lekel. Photo: Termet Peci Facebook
"The use of sacred churches for political activity insults religious and institutional feelings," a statement issued on Monday reads.
Rights Mission Tells Albanian Politicians to Stop Attacking Media
Seven international rights organisations have urged politicians of all sides in polarised Albania to stop their smear campaigns against journalists, and have urged the authorities to fully investigate recent unresolved attacks on reporters. They also urged the media community to show solidarity and report cases of threats and intimidation.
Hot and Combustible
The Agony of Choice
Croatia's presidential election is not due before the second half of December, but the field of (self-declared) candidates is already getting crowded. Aside from the obvious, incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, former Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic has also decided to throw his hat into the ring.
Albania Opposition Activists Battle Police Over Election Centres
Protesters faced off police in a dozen towns across Albania on Wednesday, as opposition-run municipalities demanded that the Central Election Commission, CEC, vacate municipal properties planned for use as polling stations in hotly disputed local elections, which the opposition is boycotting.
Cyprus’ implied threat of veto key in EU Council decisions on Turkey
The EU General Affairs Council's harsh warning to Ankara and its decision to ask the European Commission to review possible sanctions against Turkey in response to its violation of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus was in part shaped by the implied threat by Cyprus' Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis that he would not sign on to the Council's conclusions on EU enla