Prime Ministers of Albania

Albania's Parliament votes Thursday on a deal with Italy to hold thousands of migrants rescued in international waters by the Italian authorities while their asylum applications are processed.

Tensions escalated in Albania as anti-government protests erupted into clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in the capital city of Tirana. Thousands of supporters of the opposition Democratic Party converged outside the parliament building, demanding the immediate release of party leader Sali Berisha, who has been under house arrest since December 31 on charges of corruption.

Albania's parliament voted Thursday to lift the legal immunity of former prime minister Sali Berisha, who leads the opposition Democratic Party and is accused of corruption.

The case of Fredi Beleri, the ethnic Greek elected mayor of Himare, in southern Albania, who is being tried by a special court on charges of corruption, is stoking tensions on the domestic political scene. 

Albania's prime minister on Tuesday responded to not being invited by Greece to a dinner for top officials from nine Balkan nations and the European Union by saying that in "such turbulent times" Europe's unity is "larger than what divides us."

The President of Serbia stated in the Morning News program on RTS that he expects significant pressure on Serbia due to the non-imposition of sanctions on Russia. He also discussed the topic of the "Greater Albania.".

Albania's parliament voted on Friday to accept the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime's request to be able to arrest former Deputy Prime Minister, Arben Ahmetaj.

The SPAK had requested the arrest and a personal search warrant and a house search in connection with charges on corruption and money laundering.

Sigurimi files in an exhibition in Tirana. Photo: LSA.

MPs from the governing Socialist Party on Monday decided to postpone approval of changes in two laws intended to ban people from running for parliament who collaborated with the Communist-era Sigurimi secret service after an intervention by the EU's ambassador to Tirana.

Arben Ahmetaj, a long-time member of Albania's parliament and former Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister is facing a request from prosecutors for his arrest on charges of corruption and money laundering.

Ahmetaj, 54, holds parliamentary immunity, so the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organised Crime, SPAK, has asked parliament for permission to arrest him.

The message from Athens to Tirana in Greek Ambassador Konstantina Kamitsi's statements to the Albanian press by was clear: The ongoing detainment of the ethnic Greek mayor-elect of Himare in Albania will be a thorn in the side of Greek-Albanian relations for some time to come.