Albania

Fredi Beleri, a jailed member of Albania's ethnic Greek minority elected last month to the European Parliament, has been granted leave by the Albanian authorities to attend the legislature to be sworn in.

Greece sent four firefighting aircraft to Albania on Tuesday and Wednesday to help combat a large forest fire in the south of the country.

The deployment was organized through the European Civil Protection Mechanism after Albania requested assistance. Greece provided two PZL planes on Tuesday and two Canadair CL-415 aircraft on Wednesday.

The 2023 census in Albania not only showed alarming demographic data but stirred a fresh round of tensions with the Balkan nation's neighbors. 

Figures published late last week showed that the country's population shrank by 14% in 12 years from approximately 2.8 million to around 2.4 million. 

Yesterday, during its meeting, the Council of Ministers approved a draft letter of intent from the Ministry of Defense and related ministries of Italy, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria. This initiative signifies the four countries' commitment to collaborate in establishing a military mobility corridor across their territories.

The recent population census in Albania has sparked controversy, with allegations that it was designed to artificially reduce the size of the indigenous Ethnic G

"Assimilation has led to the creation of a Bulgarian minority in Albania," reported the media in North Macedonia, highlighting the surprising results of Albania's recent population census. These reports also pointed out that the number of Macedonians in Albania has halved.

In Albania, 7,057 individuals identified themselves as Bulgarians, based on data released by "Top Channel." This marks the first census after Bulgaria's national minority was officially recognized in Albania in 2017.

A Science Week on the Sarandaporos River starts this Friday, June 28, an international initiative to protect and preserve Aoos/Vjosa, the last large free-flowing river in Europe.

Fredi Beleris has gone on the offensive.

Albania player Mirlind Daku was banned on Sunday for two games after leading fans in nationalist chants at the European Championship, that UEFA said brought soccer into disrepute.

Daku took a megaphone after Albania's 2-2 draw with Croatia on Wednesday in Hamburg and joined in chanting slogans against Serbia and North Macedonia.