Government of Albania

Albania's Minister of Justice, Ylli Manjani - from the junior coalition party, the Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI - has accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of sacking him for speaking out against corruption.

The unexpected visit of CIA director John Brennan to Tirana has prompted claims that  besides Islamic radicalism, concerns about Russian influence in Albania were also on the agenda.

Moves by Italy to clamp down on Italian companies outsourcing work to Albania have alarmed the government in Tirana, which fears thousands of jobs are at risk.

An amendment that Italy passed on November to a law from 2012 on the rules about call centres raises fears that thousands of jobs in the call-centre sector could go.

Albanian Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta told Kathimerini in an interview that "there is nothing the two countries can't discuss" and called for a comprehensive solution to bilateral differences, including the Cham issue, which Greece doesn't recognize.

Albania's parliament on Thursday approved the request of 35 opposition MPs to create a commission of inquiry into the mysterious electronic device "IMSI Catcher", which some claim has been used to illegally intercept communications.

Revelations made by the Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati that Greece and Albania had exchanged non-papers on the issue of ‘Tsamouria’, lands located in a region of western Greece that Albanian argues belong to citizens of Albanian descent who had been expelled from the area after collaborating with nazi-occupying forces in the second world war, have caused an uproar.

Fatos Klosi, the former director of the Albanian intelligence service, SHISH, has called for a case relating to threats allegedly sent to the country's General Prosecutor, Adriatik Llalla, to be handled by Albania's security institutions and for it not to become politicised.

After passing an important package of judicial reforms sought by the EU, Albania hopes to start accession talks with the Brussels by the end of this year.

Albania's Minister of Justice resigned suddenly on Monday, in the middle of presiding over key judicial reforms that the EU considers vital for the country.

Nasip Naco, from the Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI, a coalition party in the Socialist-led government, resigned after two years in office on Monday.

With Grexit now slowly receding in the rear view mirror, Greece’s radical leftist government is returning to more normal international contacts, as Greek FM Nikos Kotzias begins a tour of Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina this week.

On Tuesday, Kotzias will head to Pristina, where he will be received by Kosovo PM Isa Mustafa and his counterpart  Hashim Thaci.