Latest Albania News
EU official: North Macedonia ready for membership talks
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — The European Union’s top enlargement official on Wednesday held out new hope that the block will start accession talks within months with North Macedonia and Albania, whose bids were frustrated last year. Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said the two countries...
Albania expels 2 Iranian diplomats
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday expelled two Iranian diplomats for activities "not in line with their status.” A ministry statement said the two diplomats, Mohammad Ali Arz Peimanemati and Seyed Ahmad Hosseini Alast, were declared persona non grata and asked to...
EU hopeful Albania, N. Macedonia membership talks in sight
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — After years of setbacks and disappointment, two Balkan countries' hopes for launching European Union membership talks could be realized in coming weeks, according to the prime minister of Croatia, which took over the EU's rotating presidency on Jan. 1. Albania and North Macedonia...
PM says Croatia's EU presidency specific and demanding
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia will try to help launch blocked European Union membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia while the country holds the EU presidency for the next six months, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said Thursday. ‘’We will do our best to overcome problems and...
Albanian lawmakers pass fake news laws over media protests
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Lawmakers in Albania passed an “anti-defamation package” Wednesday that authorizes heavy fines on online media and gives additional powers to government media regulators despite a protest by journalists and warnings from international organizations. Fifteen...
Rights official expresses concern about Albanian media law
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A top European human rights official expressed deep concern Tuesday over the Albanian government's push for a law that critics say would undermine free expression and media freedom in the small Balkan country. An “anti-defamation package” expected to be passed by the...
EU to hold donors' meeting for Albania quake reconstruction
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The European Commission said Saturday that member states have agreed to hold a donors’ conference in January in Albania to help the Balkan country rebuild after an earthquake killed 51 people last month. The commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, offered the...
Italy urges donor conference for quake-struck Albania
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Italy's foreign minister on Wednesday urged an international donors' conference to raise funds for Albania following last month's earthquake that flattened buildings and killed 51 people. Luigi di Maio also pledged further aid from Italy, saying Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte...
OSCE warns Albania not to block freedom of expression online
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Monday urged authorities in Albania to further amend a draft law on a new registration system for online media. Harlem Desir, the OSCE's media freedom representative, urged the Albanian Parliament to make more amendments to...
Kosovo, Albania to boycott Nobel Literature award ceremony
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo and Albania say they will boycott the Nobel Literature Prize ceremony Tuesday to protest the award being given to Austrian writer Peter Handke who both countries link to the war in the former Yugoslavia. Handke was an opponent of NATO's airstrikes against Serbia in the Kosovo...
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