Albania

Data published on Thursday by Albania’s National Institute of Statistics, INSTAT, show that in the 2011 census ethnic minorities make less than 1.5 per cent of the population.According to INSTAT the ethnic Greek minority now accounts for only 0.87 per cent of the population, ethnic Macedonians make up 0.2 per …

Government and the opposition exchanged accusations on Wednesday after the EU Council of Ministers rejected Tirana’s bid for candidate status for the third year.Prime Minister Sali Berisha told the cabinet he blamed the opposition leader Edi Rama for the failed bid, accusing the Socialists of blocking the reform process. “Rama …

Adriatik Llalla started work as Albania’s new general prosecutor on Monday after MPs from the ruling Democratic Party voted him into office on Friday.“I was trusted to lead this institution … and will fulfill the duties subscribed in law,” Llalla said at the ceremonial handover from his predecessor, Ina Rama. …

Albania’s announcement that it plans to offer speedy citizenship to ethnic Albanians across the world has stirred huge interest in Kosovo while ruffling feathers elsewhere in the region.Kosovars have been crowding outside the Albanian embassy in Pristina in larger numbers than usual lately, in the hope of obtaining an Albanian …

Burning Macedonian flags in Albania, and pelting the Macedonian Prime Minister’s car, were unacceptable incidents, the Presidents of Macedonia and Albania agreed in Montenegro.Macedonia’s President, Gjorge Ivanov, and his Albanian counterpart, Bujar Nishani, met on Wednesday at the sidelines of the fourth regional presidential summit under the working title, “Cooperation …

Tirana and Pristina say role and acts of former chief prosecutor at the Hague Tribunal need probing following the acquittal of Ramush Haradinaj last week.The Kosovo and Albania governments have urged international authorities to start an independent inquiry into the former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former …

Albania’s President, Bujar Nishani, has appointed on Monday the head of the High Inspectorate for the Declaration and Audit of Assets, HIDAA, Adriatik Llalla, as Albania’s new general prosecutor.Nishani said in a memo attached to the decree that the decisive factor was Llalla’s experience and his bipartisan election as the …

Noting the 100th anniversary of Albania’s independence, Kim Yong Nam, reclusive leader of North Korea, sent greetings to President Bujar Nishani on Wednesday.“Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, Wednesday sent a message of greeting to Albanian President Bujar Nishani on the occasion of …

Following criticism of the idea, the Albanian government has shelved plans to slaughter 1,000 lambs to mark the 100th independence anniversary on Wednesday.The idea for a mass slaughter of lambs was proposed by the Prime Minister, Sali Berisha. But it does not appear in the official calendar of festivities published …

Albanians are marking the 100th anniversary of their country’s independence with concerts, exhibitions, fairs and new monuments in the capital, Tirana, and in Vlora.The festivities in Tirana began on Monday with the inauguration of a mosaic of the Albanian flag, with stones collected from battlefields linked to the struggle for …