Tirana

Aferdita Dalliu was a child when her grandfather, Hafiz Ibrahim Dalliu, a Muslim scholar with a strong reputation for patriotism, was imprisoned by the Communist regime that ruled Albania with iron fist for more than 45 years until 1991.

Under questioning, he admitted selling drugs for a dealer who paid him a fixed monthly wage of 10,000 leks, or roughly 82 euros. He refused to name the dealer.

The boy is one a growing number of minors used as distributors by organised drug gangs operating in densely-populated districts of Tirana, in exchange for a meagre wage.

Those charged included Albania's defence minister from 2005 to 2008, Fatmir Mediu, other senior defence ministry officials and members of the army's top brass. 

Initially filed with the Supreme Court, the case, apart from Mediu's, was then separated and sent to the Tirana District Court. 

Albania PM Edi Rama (right) and the EU Ambassador in Tirana Luigi Soreca in Tirana, October 20, 2020. Photo: LSA

Citizens have started gathering every week in in Tirana to protest against recent rises in prices of bread and fuel that they consider unfair and blame on mismanagement.

Though not necessarily illegal, experts warn that when money is redirected through offshore jurisdictions, the risk of corruption rises.

Concerns have been raised that Albania did not immediately ask Interpol to issue an international 'red notice' for the arrest of former General Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla immediately after he disappeared following the court verdict confirming his two-year prison sentence for illegally concealing assets.

Farewells

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (not in picture) during a press conference in Tirana, Albania, 14 September 2021. The German Chancellor is in Albania to participate in the Western Balkan Summit. EPA-EFE/MALTON DIBRA

Thousands of activists and citizens joined protests on Wednesday in Tirana and Fier over the murder on September 10 of a young woman by her ex-husband - and over official failures to prevent violence against women more generally in Albania.

Handelsblatt writes that the region will still regret when Merkel retires.
"At the end of the mandate, the federal chancellor travels to the part of Europe that the West has neglected lately. Many are wondering if this is just a farewell tour - or does Merkel want more?", writes the analysis of the leading German agency dpa.