Albania

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele is set to begin his first Western Balkans tour on Wednesday, with scheduled stops in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo.

Albania’s lawmakers passed a resolution Thursday calling on the EU member-states to scrap visa restriction for Albanian citizens. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. The opposition Socialist Party’s lawmakers also backed the resolution.

Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ilir Meta launched on Thursday a two-day official visit to Serbia, where is expected to hold talks with Serbian President Boris Tadic and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.

Members of the Party of European Socialists (PES) voiced their support Wednesday for efforts by Albania’s opposition Socialist Party (SP) to investigate the 2009 general elections. SP leader Edi Rama was in Strasbourg to meet with PES officials and senior European

KFOR has restored relations with the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) after almost a week of tension, the NATO-led force announced on Wednesday. KFOR suspended ties saying the KSF violated its status of an unarmed organisation by displaying weapons during an anniversary ceremony celebrating the Kosovo Albanian resistance against Serb forces. …

Albania has completed six more chapters of the questionnaire required by the European Commission, the Inter-ministerial Co-ordination Committee for European Integration announced on Thursday. The chapters are on the free movement of capital, information and media society, taxes, environment, financial control, and finances and budget. That makes a total of …

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb voiced support for Albania’s visa liberalisation process with the EU during a meeting with Albanian counterpart Ilir Meta in Helsinki on Wednesday. Stubb said his country backs Tirana’s effort to progress towards European integration, but stressed that reforms should continue. Meta said the visit “marks the …

The presiding judge of the PriŠtina District Court ruled on Tuesday that the trial of Albin Kurti be postponed until April 13, EULEX said.

A NATO Parliamentary Assembly delegation, led by Sergio De Gregorio, said in Tirana on Monday (March 1st) that no one in the Alliance doubts the legitimacy of the current government and parliament. NATO monitors said the June 2009 general elections were a well organised process, noted De Gregorio after meeting …

The Socialist Party’s (SP) return to parliament after a six month boycott is the first step towards normalising parliamentary work, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Mevlut Cavusoglu, said in a statement Monday (March 1st). Cavusoglu described contributions by all parties as essential, adding …