Luigi Soreca

Albania PM Edi Rama (right) and the EU Ambassador in Tirana Luigi Soreca in Tirana, October 20, 2020. Photo: LSA

The International Monitoring Operation, created to oversee a vetting process in Albania launched under EU and US pressure in 2017, issued a decision saying Tirana chief prosecutor Elizabeta Imeraj "has significantly jeopardised public trust in the judicial system" and should be removed from the post.

Minister of Agriculture Bledi Cuci (left), and EU ambassador in Tirana Luigi Soreca at the presentation of the assessment of November 2019 earthquake damage in Tirana on February 5, 2020. Photo: Gent Shkullaku/LSA

It estimated the cost of damage to both public and private properties at 844 million euros and the cost of their reconstruction at 1.07 billion euro.

EU ambassador Luigi Soreca said on Monday evening that the controversial proposed law to regulate online media, which is currently going through parliament, is too severe and should be rethought.

Luigi Soreca, EU Delegation Ambassador in Tirana (front) and Knut Fleckenstein, rapporteur for Albania in the European Parliament, after meeting opposition leaders in Tirana on 28 February 2019. Photo: Malton Dibra/LSA

Knut Fleckenstein, the German rapporteur for Albania, said quitting parliament was wrong.

Multiple police operations were staged on Sunday across Albania, with officers arresting more than two dozen people suspected of drug smuggling and confiscating guns and narcotics, police and prosecutors announced on Monday in Tirana.

The head of the Serious Crime Prosecution Office, Donika Prela, said the investigation started back in 2016 and was then extended across the country.