Albania

Albanian economic growth this year will be minimal, owing to the effects of the global economic downturn, the Central Bank governor, Ardian Fullani, has said. Fullani said confidence in the Albanian banking sector had revived after the first aftershocks of the crises in global financial markets. However, the government needs …

The Albanian government decided on Tuesday to slash the pension age for miners from 65 to 60-years-old, following an electoral promise from Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Miners unions have held a series of protests in recent years seeking better working conditions and demanding better pensions and wages. 

TIRANA, Albania The High Court in Tirana on Monday (July 6th) again postponed the trial of former Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu who faces charges of abuse of power. Mediu’s lawyers failed to appear in court, blaming the temporary closure of a tunnel along the Durres-Kukes Highway. Prosecutors say the tunnel …

Albania’s Supreme Court on Monday again delayed the case against former defence minister Fatmir Mediu – indicted over a deadly blast at a munitions depot in March 2008 – after his lawyers failed to show up in court. The lawyers notified the court that they were stranded in Kukes, in …

TIRANA, Albania Albania’s opposition Socialists accused the governing party on Monday of interfering with a recount of some ballots from last month’s general election in an effort to win more seats in parliament.

The Albanian Transportation Ministry has announced the temporary closure of the Thirre tunnel in the Rreshen-Kalimash road, one of the key segments of the Albania-Kosovo highway. The 5.6-kilometre tunnel will be closed from Monday till Thursday, with crews continuing construction work, which cannot be carried out with traffic passing through. …

TIRANA, Albania The opposition Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) announced Sunday (July 5th) that it will hold an extraordinary national convention Tuesday to secure party support for a future coalition government with Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s Democratic Party (DP).

TIRANA, Albania’s opposition Socialists charged yesterday that the ruling Democrats were improperly trying to influence the country’s lengthy vote count by declaring victory before all ballots from last week’s national election were tallied. 

TIRANA, Albania nearly a week after parliamentary elections, Albania’s governing Democratic Party began to assemble a coalition government on Saturday, even as the opposition Socialists decried the move as premature.

TIRANA, Albania’s opposition Socialists are threatening to hold street protests after election authorities declared Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s Democrats had won enough seats in last weekend’s election to form a government.