albania Archives

Albania protesters demand Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation

May 26, 2018 By administrator

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Tirana, demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama step down from his post. Protesters accuse the government of having ties to organized crime and trafficking groups.

Angry protesters in the Albanian capital Tirana marched along the city’s Martyrs of the Nation Boulevard on Saturday chanting “Rama go.” Some hurled stones at the premier’s office building and the interior ministry.

“Albanians are protesting against the government’s ties to organized crime and trafficking, which is undermining the future of Albania and now European integration efforts,” Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha told The Associated Press.

Basha said that “hundreds of thousands” of people participated in the anti-government march, which lasted for two hours.

There were reports of clashes between police and protesters. Ardi Veliu, the national police chief, said 11 officers were wounded while trying to keep protesters away from government offices.

The opposition also accuses Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj of supporting his brother who turned himself in to Italian authorities to serve a 2002 drug trafficking sentence. Xhafaj denies these allegations.

“No politicians should be guaranteed impunity,” Basha told the rally participants on Saturday.

Albania’s EU bid

The Democrats, who lost last year’s parliamentary election by a huge margin, say the incumbent government is proving to be an obstacle to Albania’s European Union bid. The Balkan nation, which has been a NATO member since 2009, is expecting to start EU membership talks next month.

Last month, the European Commission recommended that the EU launch membership talks with Albania and Macedonia. The EU believes that Albania and Macedonia, which were granted EU candidate status in 2014 and 2005, respectively, have made enough progress to warrant the start of accession talks.

Any prospective members must make sweeping reforms to secure their entry to the bloc.

EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the recommendation “is an encouragement to these countries to continue on the path of reforms.”

Hailing the announcement, Prime Minister Rama said the commission’s backing shows that the tiny West Balkan country has “at last come out of a crossroad between the past and the future.”

Albania’s diaspora plans to seize Serbian mission in U.S. or Europe: Serbia FM

January 10, 2017 By administrator

Serbia’s Foreign Ministry has information that one of the country’s diplomatic missions in the U.S. or Europe may come under siege, ahead of the trial of former Kosovo guerrilla commander and Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, RT reports.

“We have information that the Albanian diaspora is plotting a takeover of one of our diplomatic or consular missions in the United States or Europe in order to make Serbia drop its demand to [try] Haradinaj,” Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said Monday, January 9 speaking to Radio Television of Serbia.

The official added that Belgrade received the data from western intelligence services.

“This information came from a Western country, and the data included names and surnames of people, the name of the state, and the fact that our embassy or consulate may become a target,” Dacic said, as cited by TASS news agency.

The details were not made public. Serbia has an EU diplomatic mission in Brussels, Belgium, as well as embassies in individual member states, and in the U.S..

“It shows the lengths that Albanian politicians are willing to go – even terrorism,” the Serbian foreign minister was quoted as saying by Serbian media outlet Blic.

It comes a few days after Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic declared that Belgrade would demand the extradition of Ramush Haradinaj from France.

Haradinaj was a rebel commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army in the 1998-99 conflict, and Serbia accuses him of war crimes against ethnic Serbs. He has denied any wrongdoing.

“Serbia will not give up the prosecution of Haradinaj or anyone who has committed crimes against th Serbian people,” Dacic said.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state, still considering it a part of Serbia – as do five out of 28 EU members: Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Greece, and Cyprus.

Albania, Serbia Postpone Visit After Soccer Brawl

October 19, 2014 By administrator

BELGRADE, Serbia — Oct 19, 2014, 1:41 PM ET

(AP) A planned visit this week by Albania’s prime minister to Serbia, the first in nearly 70 years, has been postponed for next month, authorities said Sunday, after political tensions soared between the two Balkan rivals following a soccer brawl.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Albanian counterpart Edi Rama spoke on the phone and agreed to meet on Nov. 10 instead of Wednesday, according to a statement issued by the Serbian premier’s office.

“The two prime ministers agreed that they must and will not let go of the opportunity to meet and work for regional stability and to turn a new page regarding the political and economic relations between the two countries,” the statement added.

Belgrade and Tirana have had strained relations for decades, mostly over the status of the former Serbian province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 following a war. Serbia has refused to acknowledge the split, but both Serbia and Albania must work to improve ties to advance in their efforts to join the European Union.

Last Wednesday’s Serbia-Albania European Championship soccer qualifying match was suspended after a drone carrying an Albanian nationalist flag ignited clashes between players and fans, fueling ethnic and political unrest.

Serbia accused Albania of a deliberate provocation, while Albania said its players were insulted and attacked. Several ethnic Albanian businesses in Serbia were attacked by extremists in the wake of the match, in a sign of mounting tensions.