Albania

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has delivered in Brussels a copy of his country’s completed European Union pre-accession questionnaire, and faced criticism over the country’s deadlocked political situation from the EU enlargement commissioner.

The Albanian government passed a bill on Tuesday that will lift visa restrictions for Serbian citizens traveling to Albania, and parliament is now expected to adopt the measure. The decision follows the visit of Albanian Foreign Minister Ilir Meta to Belgrade in early March. Meta’s trip to the Serbian capital …

Albanian President Bamir Topi on Wednesday kicks off his two-day official visit to neighboring Macedonia. Topi is expected to meet his Macedonian counterpart, Georgi Ivanov, Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. They are set to discuss bilateral issues as well as regional topics.

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha announced on Tuesday that the government had filed the EU questionnaire on the country’s readiness to join the bloc. “We hope to receive an objective evaluation from those who review it,” Berisha said during a cabinet meeting.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announced on Monday in Tirana that the EU will announce the visa liberalisation decision for Albania on July 2 at the Sarajevo summit.

A petition against the trial of Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) movement leader Albin Kurti will be sent to the UN, the EU and to the Council of Europe. The council opposing the trial announced on Sunday (April 11th) that the

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele reiterated on Tuesday (March 30th) his concerns about the ongoing political stalemate in Albania. The deadlock is between the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the opposition Socialist Party (SP). “I expressed concern about the stability of democratic institutions and the lack of political dialogue in …

The rapporteur for Albania in the European Parliament’s (EP) Foreign Affairs Commission, Nikolaos Chountis, said on Monday (March 29th) that there are no barriers preventing the country from EU visa liberalisation. During a visit to Tirana, officials briefed Chountis on progress made on basic

Albanian Foreign Minister Ilir Meta said that Albania will continue to cooperate with Serbia for the sake of the Albanians in the Preševo Valley. He said that Tirana will cooperate with Belgrade to improve on the rights and integration of Albanians in southern Serbia. Meta said that policies of good …

The European Commission (EC) will publish a report on April 15th regarding Albania’s progress in meeting criteria for EU visa liberalisation. A similar evaluation will be made for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH); a high-ranking EC official was quoted as saying on Wednesday (March 24th). Brussels has reportedly urged officials in …