Government of Albania

Albania's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Olta Xhacka, said Albania was joining EU and Western sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, presenting its raft of measures on Sunday.

Hoxha was the First Secretary of Politburo until his death in 1985, when he was replaced by Ramiz Alia until the Communist regime was ousted. Also on display at the exhibition are portraits of officials from the state security service, senior police and judicial figures and chiefs of prison camps.

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".

A BIRN Freedom of Information Request has revealed that Prime Minister Edi Rama on 29 September last year appointed his own former spokesperson, Endri Fuga, as head of the newly established Media and Information Agency, MIA. The appointment was not published and was disclosed only recently following the FOI request.

The home of the head of Albanian football's governing body, Armando Duka, in the coastal town of Durres was targeted with explosives on Monday evening, causing damage but no casualties.

Police said on Monday night that the explosive device was placed at the gate of his apartment and that "an investigative unit is working to clarify the circumstances of the event".

The Albanian Football Federation, FSHF, the country's football governing body, has accused Erion Veliaj, Socialist Party Mayor of Tirana, of using threats against board members ahead of a vote for the head of the Federation.

Unfortunately, for the past 30 years, both international and Albanian leaders have often tipped the scales of justice to serve their respective political agendas.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a welcoming ceremony with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (L) at Tirana airport, January 17 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/MALTON DIBRA

The complex was financed and built by Turkey for Albanians who lost their houses in the magnitude 6.3 earthquake in late 2019, which killed 51 people and displaced nearly 17,000 people.

The civil war within Albania's main opposition Democratic Party worsened over the weekend after an assembly on Saturday summoned by former DP leader Sali Berisha voted to change the party's statute, and dismiss the current leader, Lulzim Basha - who has, in turn, dismissed some party members that participated in the assembly.

Political veteran Sali Berisha will bid to take back control of the opposition Democrats on Saturday, but in doing so he risks splitting the party in two.