Albania

Kosovo Serbs Invited to Join Decentralisation

Kosovo’s International Civilian Representative has called on the country’s Serb population to begin to take part in the administrative structures at a municipal level, and seize opportunities that decentralisation offer them. “It is the time for the Serbs to make use of the possibilities decentralisation offers to them,” said Pieter …

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Three Afghans Seek Asylum in Kosovo

Three citizens, who said they were Afghans, caught by Kosovo’s police on the Macedonian border near Kacanik, have asked for political asylum. Kosovo’s police did not want to comment or speculate on the reasons that prompted the citizens to seek asylum, saying that “their confidentiality is guaranteed by Geneva’s Convention”, …

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Serbs mark Kosovo riots anniversary

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: Serbs in the flashpoint Kosovo town of Mitrovica on Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of riots that left 19 dead and 900 injured. Kosovo Serb leaders laid flowers on the bridge over the Ibar river, which splits the northern town, in honour of the victims of the worst …

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Albania determined to put in EU bid in June

Albania faces an uphill battle to join the EU, with the PM acknowledging that hard economic times could create a ‘sentiment of reluctance’ among Europeans to welcome new member states. Tirana — Albania is determined to submit its candidacy for European Union membership in June despite the global economic crisis …

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Maldives Parliament Launches Kosovo Probe

A parliamentary body in the Maldives, consisted of top officials, will investigate allegations that the government received a $2 million bribe to recognise Kosovo’s independence. The National Security Committee of the parliament will look to see if there is any truth these allegations, which were first raised by the opposition …

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Kosovo Condemns March 2004 Attacks

Five years after ethnic Albanians attacked Serb enclaves in Kosovo in what became the worst single attack against Kosovo’s Serbs since just after the 1999 war, Pristina’s government said the events would go down as ”one of the darkest episodes” of the country’s recent history. “The tragic events of March …

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Albanians Set to Join Serb Government Body

Politicians representing ethnic Albanians in south Serbia will join the work of the government’s Coordination Body for South Serbia in the next few days, Sima Gazikalovic, one of the vice-presidents of the institution, told Balkan Insight. Gazikalovic said that according to the negotiations, Albanians would get the position of deputy …

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Ex-Kosovo Leader Denies Organ Trade

Agim Ceku, Kosovo’s former prime minister and a former commander of Kosovo’s Liberation Army, KLA, told a Montenegrin TV that he did not know of any organised trade in human organs harvested from kidnapped Kosovo Serbs, referring to such claims as ”biased”. “These are such monstrous accusations that they deserve …

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Kosovo appeals court clears Albanian in bus bombing

Pristina,  – European Union judges in a Kosovo appeals court cleared an Albanian man who had previously been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 2001 bombing of a Serbian bus, local reports said Friday. The appeals court ruled Thursday that the evidence against Florim Ejupi was insufficient for …

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Albanians Protest on Deadly Blast Anniversary

Thousands of Albanian opposition supporters protested on Sunday on the first anniversary of a deadly blast at an army depot outside Tirana, calling on Prime Minister Sali Berisha to quit and to stop his attacks on the justice system. After holding a rally in the village of Gerdec, the site …

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