Albania

PRISTINA, Kosovo – Opposition parties asked President Fatmir Sejdiu on Wednesday (April 1st) to schedule local elections in October. The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, and Reformist Party leader Teuta Sahatcia say the elections should be held before cold weather sets in.

TIRANA, Albania – The opposition Socialist Party (SP) on Wednesday (April 1st) criticised the government for failing to prepare the country well enough for the June 28th general elections. The SP says Albania cannot guarantee that one fifth of the voters will be able to cast their ballot as a …

PRISTINA, Kosovo – The Ombudsperson Institution published a report Wednesday (April 1st) that blames UNMIK for rights violations the Roma have suffered in camps in northern Mitrovica since 1999. The report concludes that UNMIK has continuously violated international standards for human rights and it urges the government to intervene by …

Kosovo’s deputies have not stopped smoking in Kosovo’s Parliament, setting an example of how to breach the law. Although smoking in offices and institutions, including Kosovo’s Parliament, has been banned for three years, three deputies of the Parliamentary Commission for Budget and Finance have been spotted smoking in one of …

Government ministries have been taking decisions on a range of different issues unnoticed by the public gaze, a report published by Kosovo’s Institute for Advanced Studies, GAP, claims. This, the NGO states, has been primarily caused by lack of suitable mechanisms for monitoring government activities within the NGO community, little …

An exhibition by Norman Gershman, “Word of Honor – Jews Saved during WWII in Albania” has opened in Ramallah. The exhibition consists of 70 black and white photographs and portraits of Albanian families who saved Jews from persecution during World War II. The selection has already been displayed as part …

Kosovo’s Prime Minister has guaranteed full transparency over donor funds directed to Kosovo. “I guarantee donors that every cent they spend will be accounted for,” Hashim Thaci told a press conference about the Donor Forum. The Donor Forum was organised by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Agency for European …

A 2.5-per-cent increase in the price of electric energy came into force in Kosovo on Wednesday. The increase is line with proposals of the Regulatory Energy Office. The decision was backed by the government but condemned by various consumer and rights organisations. 

WASHINGTON, United States – As required, all NATO member states sent the US State Department their ratified documents regarding Croatia and Albania’s entry into the Alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer confirmed on Monday (March 30th). Portugal and Slovenia were the last two countries to comply. De Hoop Scheffer …

PRISTINA, Kosovo – EULEX has taken over an organ trafficking case that allegedly victimised Serbs in 1999, local media reported on Tuesday (March 31st). EULEX officials said they have received a file from Serb judicial authorities, in which prosecutors argue that the Kosovo Liberation Army removed the