Albania

An unofficial deadline set in a meeting in Strasbourg for Albanian political leaders to resolve the country’s political crisis expired on Thursday with no solution in sight. After meeting with EU representatives in Strasbourg two weeks ago, Albania’s main political parties have failed to reach an agreement to overcome the …

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said on Wednesday (June 2nd) he would like to see a solution to the political crisis in Albania before the European Parliament (EP) discusses lifting the visa regime. “I would not like to answer on behalf of other institutions, however the EP respects EC decisions,” …

NATO closed down its office in Tirana on Wednesday (June 2nd), a little more than a year after Albania joined the Alliance in April 2009. In his remarks, President Bamir Topi thanked all peacekeepers serving in missions around the world.

The European Parliament (EP) refused to vote for a resolution on Albania’s EU integration on Tuesday (June 1st), thus jeopardising Tirana’s visa liberalisation process. The country’s ongoing political stalemate drove the decision, the EP explained on its website. Adoption of the document has been postponed until the end of June. …

The end of the NATO mission in Albania will be marked in its capital on Wednesday. The Albanian ambassador in Bulgaria Bujar Skendo describes NATO mission as “necessary for gaining ground for the modern

Soon, Albanian citizens will need only an electronic ID card to travel to neighbouring Kosovo, according to an agreement effective on Tuesday (June 1st), for the tourist season and possibly beyond. A reciprocal summer agreement for Kosovo citizens has been in effect in Albania for years.

A parliamentary investigation must be conducted in Albania to pave the way for eventual EU integration, the world organisation, Socialist International (SI), said on Saturday (May 29th) in Tirana. SI Secretary-General Luis Ayala of Chile stressed that the ongoing political stalemate is the direct result of a lack of transparency …

EU personnel met with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Socialist Party (SP) leader Edi Rama on Wednesday (May 26th) in Tirana, in a bid to mediate a solution to the months-long political stalemate. At issue are differences over the transparency of the June 2009 general elections, which the SP …

Working groups from Kosovo and Serbia met on Wednesday (May 26th) in Pristina to discuss technical details ahead of the exhumation of a mass grave discovered in Raska, southern Serbia, earlier this month. “We expect the work to begin intensively in two to three weeks at the latest,” Pajazit Nushi, …

The European Commission announced today its adoption of a proposal to lift the visa regime for Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the two countries must still fulfill remaining benchmarks before their citizens can travel without a visa in the Schengen zone.