Albania

The European Commission’s decision not to grant visa-free travel to Albanian citizens has been met with little surprise in Tirana, where the issue was the subject of heated debate during the recent election campaign. Opposition leader Edi Rama, who is the mayor of Tirana, told reporters that the EU rejection …

PREŠEVO Interior Minister Ivica Dačić says that the explosion in Preševo where a woman and an ethnic Albanian child were injured was “a classic act of terrorism.“ One person has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling arms from Kosovo.

PREŠEVO Ethnic Albanian party leaders in the south of the country on Tuesday condemned an incident when a bomb exploded in Preševo.Two people were hurt overnight in that town in the region close to the administrative line with Kosovo.

Forensic experts have unearthed a mass grave in the eastern Kosovo town of Gnjilane containing 11 bodies including four children, the European Union mission (EULEX) said in a statement on Tuesday. The victims are believed to be ethnic Albanians killed in the early days of a two year counter-insurgency war …

PRISTINA, Kosovo Serbia’s special war crimes prosecutor for the first time published a list of former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) accused of committing war crimes, local media report on Tuesday (July 14th). The spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, Bruno Vekaric, says Serbia has issued 160 warrants against …

TIRANA, Albania The main opposition Socialist Party (SP) has secured a ninth mandate in the region of Fieri, according to new preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission on Monday (July 13th). Previous results suggested the SP won eight parliamentary mandates there. Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who leads the …

PRIŠTINA Representatives of the Kosovo Albanian government in Priština will on July 17 send additional arguments to the International Court of Justice, reports said.The move, according to Albanian language daily Koha Ditore, will seek to “defend the legitimacy of the independence declaration”.The ethnic Albanians’ unilateral proclamation in February 2008 was …

raiders who attempted to open a series of graves in the ancient city of Apollonia on Sunday. The raiders, who remained unidentified and are suspected of being part of regional ring that smuggles artifacts, aimed to plunder a group of 2000-year-old graves, local broadcaster Top-Channel TV reported.  

PRISTINA, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu called on UNMIK to shut down its mission, in his annual address to parliament Thursday (July 9th). “It can be called a successful story of the international commitment in Kosovo,” Sejdiu said.

TIRANA, Albania The Socialist Party (SP) wants a full count of ballot boxes from the region of Fieri before it recognises the official results from Sunday’s general elections, local media reported on Thursday (July 9th). Despite the SP’s claims that they won nine mandates in Fieri, preliminary results suggest they …