Albania

Diplomatic sources told BIRN that Rama will hold a meeting on Monday morning with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksander Vucic, followed by a joint press conference.

The Albanian leader will also take part on Monday in a business forum. It is unclear whether a meeting with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic will be held on the sidelines.

Albanians face higher taxes next year as Edi Rama's centre-left government struggles to cut the budget deficit and meet the terms imposed by international lenders.

The package of tax changes presented this week in parliament shows higher duties on tobacco and petroleum products. Income tax rate will rise from 10 to 15 per cent.

Regional governments urged to give up territory

PODGORICA -- Albanian historian Koco Danaj has sent a letter to the governments of Montenegro, Serbia, Greece and Macedonia demanding they give up parts of their territory.

These countries should do so, he argues, for the sake of "unification of all Albanians".

A joint operation by Greek and Albanian authorities has led to the arrest of nine men - four in Greece and five in the neighboring Balkan country - suspected of trafficking drugs on a large scale.

The Albanian government has signed an agreement with the World Bank on a loan of USD 150 M.

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Albania to create anti-terror directorate, deepen terrorism fight

The new directorate is one of the biggest in the Balkans, according to Albanian experts.

Albania decided to establish a special anti-terrorism directorate after security experts detected rising religious and ethnic extremism in the country.

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BELGRADE - A meeting of the European branch of the Trilateral Commission, a discussion group often called "the world's shadow government," started in Belgrade Saturday, with Chairman of the Commission's European branch Jean-Claude Trichet and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic welcoming the participants.

BELGRADE - Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic stated that the real issue lies in the nature of the messages Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama would send during his forthcoming visit to Serbia and not in the answer to the question as to whether or not he should go to Presevo, municipality in southern Serbia which is home to majority ethnic Albanian pop

PM voices readiness for talks with Albanian officials

BELGRADE -- Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić told the Belgrade-based daily Danas over the weekend that he is "ready to talk with representatives of Albania."

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday that he is ready to talk with representatives of Albania, underscoring that all attackers on small shops owned by ethnic Albanians have been arrested in Serbia following the incident in the recent football match between Serbia and Albania.