Edi Rama

The left-wing coalition headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama won or is leading in key races in the local elections held on Sunday in Albania, but its victory is expected to be much less convincing than in 2013.

Albanians on Sunday go to the polls to elect 61 new mayors and 1,610 councillors in local elections that are considered a double challenge for the country.

Polling stations opened at 7am and close at 7pm. About 3.37 million Albanians are eligible to cast votes.

In a surprise decision, Albania's High Court has freed Arben Nroka and Pjerin Ndreu, MPs for the ruling Socialist Party, of charges of beating Genc Strazimiri, an MP from the opposition Democratic Party on July 14, 2014.

The US government has praised Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama for trying to move on from the conflicts of the past toward a new era of friendship and cooperation in the Balkans.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama agreed to disagree on Kosovo and sought closer cooperation between their countries.

This happened at the meeting of the two leaders on Wednesday, which is part of the two-day visit of Vucic to Tirana, Tanjug news agency reports.

Misa Djurkovic of the Institute for European Studies has told B92 that Albania is "not well-intenetioned" toward Serbia.

Relations between Albania and Greece took another turn for the worse on Wednesday after the neighboring country?s Prime Minister Edi Rama called on Athens to renegotiate its maritime borders with Tirana.

Albanian PM Edi Rama on Wednesday fielded a question on relations with Greece and the recently emerged issue that Tirana tabled regarding the delineation of maritime borders in the Ionian Sea.
Rama answered the press question as he appeared with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic at a press conference. Vucic is on a closely watched on a two-day visit to Tirana.

Serbian Prime minister meets with Albanian counterpart Edi Rama

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that the differences between Serbia and Albania have to do with "the stance on Kosovo."

He made the comment after his meeting in Tirana with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

On a historic trip to Albania by the Serbian Prime Minister on Wednesday, the two sides underlined the importance of regional cooperation and agreed to disagree on the independence of the former Serbian province of Kosovo.

Vucic arrived in Tirana on Wednesday morning and was welcomed at the airport by Deputy Prime Minister Niko Peleshi.