Ilir Meta

The Special Prosecution Against Organised Crime and Corruption said on Tuesday that two investigations of President Ilir Meta have begun after former MP Halit Valteri issued two criminal complaints accusing him of abuses related to lobbying contracts with US firms.

New Beginning

Albania President - elect, Bajram Begaj. Photo credits: Edi Rama Facebook

After the often turbulent and anything-but-dull five year term of Ilir Meta as President of Albania, is the country about to get a 'normal' president? On Saturday June 4, Albania's Parliament elected Bajram Begaj as the country's new President, due to take office at the end of July.

Albania's parliament is set to vote for a new president on Saturday, but no candidates' names are known or even rumoured, less than 24 hours ahead of the vote.

Albania's President, Ilir Meta, will end his mandate in office after winning a Constitutional Court battle with the ruling Socialist Party, which dismissed him via a vote in parliament nine months ago.

In a verdict on Wednesday, the Court said the accusations made against Meta "do not constitute serious violation of the constitution".

The prosecution in the town of Kruja has opened an investigation into a suspected mass poisoning which President Ilir Meta has described as a serious threat to people's lives.

Ahead of the EU-Western Balkans Summit on 6 October, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will be in the Western Balkans between Tuesday and Thursday, to visit Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, EC Press service reported.

After three sessions, the Constitutional Court in Tirana has suspended the legal initiatives that paved the way for construction of a new National Theatre undertaken by the government and the Municipality of Tirana until the court issues a final decision on the issue.

The old National Theatre was demolished in May 2020, after three years of protests by activists.

Wrong Direction

The House of the National Assembly in Belgrade, Serbia, 28 April 2020. EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC

Serbia's existing legislation on access to information provides a good framework - at least in theory - for those seeking to hold government to account. In practice, of course, it is routinely undermined and ignored by authorities determined to undermine transparency.

Albanian MPs on Wednesday voted to oust the country's president, Ilir Meta, though the final decision on the issue must go to the Constitutional Court, which will conclude if Meta will be removed from office before his term ends in until 2022.

Some 104 lawmakers in the ruling Socialist-dominated chamber voted for dismissal while seven voted against. Three abstained.

Tirana – The foreign ministers of Slovenia, Austria and the Czech Republic, Anže Logar, Alexander Schallenberg and Jakub Kulhanek, stressed the role of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans as they met senior Albanian officials in Tirana on Sunday, a day after visiting neighbouring North Macedonia.