Albania

While recession wreaked havoc in the world economy, Albania registered an eight percent growth in its Gross Domestic Product last year, according to the National Statistics Institute. However, few economists take seriously the data published by INSTAT, while others have even hinted that it might have been manipulated due to …

Belgrade hopes that the International Court of Justice will rule that Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence violated international law, while officials in Pristina expect the court to rule in their favour. Serbia has finalised its argument against Kosovo’s independence and will forward it to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) …

PRISTINA, Kosovo Kosovo is ready to defend its 2008 independence declaration before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), media reported on Friday (April 10th). British expert Michael Wood will lead Kosovo’s legal team at the ICJ to debate Serbia’s motion questioning the legality of Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February …

TIRANA, Albania Parliament has decided to send a unit consisting of 63 commandos to join the UN peacekeeping mission in Chad, media reported on Thursday (April 9th). The defence ministry says the Albanian troops will be in charge of security at the UN headquarters in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. The unit …

An arsenal of surveillance equipment – including bugging and tracking devices and night-vision telescopes for sniper operations – is being assembled by the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo, EULEX. The EU rule of law mission has issued a 162-page tender for the high-tech tools, to be used in …

TIRANA, Albania Four days after the country’s official acceptance as a member of the Alliance, Albania has appointed its mission to NATO headquarters in Brussels, local media reported on Wednesday (April 8th). Permanent representative for Albania Artur Kuko will lead the mission. Also on Wednesday, Tirana witnessed a ceremonial raising …

THE HAGUE, Netherlands The Appeals Council at The Hague war crimes tribunal on Wednesday (April 8th) ordered the temporary release of former Kosovo Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Astrit Haraqija. The time he spent behind bars awaiting trial equalled the five-month sentence he received for contempt of court. The …

The Parliament of the Maldives has suspended an investigation into allegations of a $2 million bribe, allegedly accepted by the government of this small chain of Indian Ocean islands to recognise Kosovo’s independence. A parliamentary committee that was investigating the allegation, after concerns raised by Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, said …

PRISTINA, Kosovo – European Parliament (EP) member Doris Pack on Tuesday (April 7th) voiced support for Kosovo’s EU integration but at the same time expressed disappointment with the government’s efforts to fight corruption. Pack, who is leading an EP delegation to Pristina, signed a co-operation agreement Tuesday with members of …

Former UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari is optimistic Moscow will recognise Kosovo’s independence, now relations between the US and Russia are thawing. The man who devised the blueprint for Kosovo’s supervised independence told Voice of America that it may take “some time in order for this to happen”. “I hope that …