Albania

The European Commission (EC) has asked Tirana to answer 170 additional questions, to supplement the questionnaire submitted last month when Albania applied for candidate country status. Integrations Minister Majlinda Bregu said on Tuesday (May 18th) that Albania will send “clarifications” regarding issues raised by the Commission. According to media reports, …

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, on Wednesday is set to deliver the final verdict in the case of former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boskoski and police officer Johan Tarculovski. Boskoski and Tarculovski are the only people from Macedonia to be indicted by the UN war crimes …

The OSCE office in Tirana announced on Monday (May 17th) that it has a compromise that would end the longstanding political crisis. Last week, OSCE Ambassador Robert Bosch said that a proposal had been presented to both the government and opposition Socialist Party (SP). While Prime Minister Sali Berisha has …

Thousands of members and supporters of the opposition Socialist Party (SP) rallied in Tirana on Friday (May 14th) on behalf of about 200 people who started hunger strikes two weeks ago, demanding transparency in the June 2009 general elections. The protestors gathered in the main square chanting “Open the ballot …

Bulgarian Foreign Minister was in the Albanian capital of Tirana on May 14 2010 at the close of his Western Balkans tour that has taken him to Skopje, Belgrade, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo and Banja Luka underlining his message that Bulgaria wants to do its utmost to assist the region’s European …

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha will visit Macedonia later this month, Albanian media quote government sources as saying. During the stay in Skopje, Berisha is expected to reiterate Albania’s support to peace and stability in Macedonia. The same sources said Albanian prime minister and his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Gruevski are …

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele expressed concern again Tuesday (May 11th) about the political stalemate in Albania that he says is hampering the EU integration process. A ten-day hunger strike by the opposition is complicating the situation, he noted. Spain, current holder of the rotating EU presidency, is urging politicians …

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said on Tuesday (May 11th) that Kosovo must do two things — implement re-admission agreements and integrate returnees — before the EU can even consider initiating a dialogue on visa liberalisation. “It is important that Kosovo too understands and knows the conditions,” Fuele said, adding …

Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, has showed his support for the strengthening of the state institutions in Kosovo so as “to protect the rights of all ethnic communities.” Mladenov was speaking after meeting with his counterpart in Pristina Skender Hyseni and Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci, as part of his …

Excavation will soon begin near the town of Raška, where a suspected mass grave is located, says War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević. Vukčević said that it is not known who killed the victims, while witnesses said that the site might contain the bodies of 250 Kosovo Albanians. The excavation will …