Latest Albania News

Aid groups say Italy-Albania migration deal violates medical ethics

Nov. 15, 2024 12:24 PM EST

ROME (AP) — More than a dozen humanitarian organizations that provide health care to migrants criticized Italy’s migration deal with Albania on Friday as violating the code of medical ethics, and urged health workers not to cooperate with it. The deal, the centerpiece of Premier...

Italy's plan to screen migrants in Albania hits another snag with 2nd group returning to Italy

Nov. 12, 2024 02:09 AM EST

MILAN (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s program to screen asylum seekers outside of European Union borders in Albania hit another snag when a court in Rome refused to rule on a formal request to detain seven migrants transferred to the Balkan nation last week. The decision...

One of 8 migrants sent to Albania returned to Italy

Nov. 09, 2024 07:51 AM EST

ROME (AP) — One of the eight migrants brought for processing in an Albanian center after being intercepted in international waters has returned to Italy after being deemed “vulnerable,” a delegation of Italian activists and lawmakers visiting the center said on Saturday. The...

A ship suspected of carrying toxic waste docks at a port in Albania to have its cargo inspected

Nov. 08, 2024 08:22 AM EST

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A ship suspected of carrying a large amount of hazardous waste was allowed to dock on Friday at Albania’s main port, where its cargo was being unloaded for inspection on the orders of the prosecutor, officials said. Albania had prevented the...

Italy sends another 8 migrants to Albania under processing centers deal

Nov. 08, 2024 07:38 AM EST

SHENGJIN, Albania (AP) — An Italian navy ship docked Friday at the Albanian port of Shengjin with eight migrants who will be processed there after they were intercepted in international waters, a month after another group was turned away for failing the vetting process. It is only...

Albania aims to join the European Union by 2030, prime minister tells expatriates in Greek city

Nov. 03, 2024 15:35 PM EST

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Albania hopes to join the European Union by 2030, Prime Minister Edi Rama told a crowd of some 2,000 supporters at a hotel in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Sunday. Rama also promised that the numerous Albanian expatriates will be able for...

Albania's opposition blocks roads in a protest to demand a caretaker Cabinet

Oct. 29, 2024 23:16 PM EDT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian opposition activists blocked major roads for several hours Tuesday in a nationwide rally demanding that the government be replaced by a technocratic caretaker Cabinet before the 2025 parliamentary election. Lawmakers led hundreds of opposition...

Albania stops a ship suspected of harboring massive amounts of toxic waste from docking

Oct. 28, 2024 21:04 PM EDT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania prevented Monday a ship suspected of transferring a huge amount of hazardous waste from docking at Tirana’s main port, officials said, after a watchdog group alerted authorities. The Turkish-flagged Moliva XA443A ship was kept about a mile away from...

EU stays on the sidelines over migrant deal between Italy and Albania

Oct. 23, 2024 14:18 PM EDT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A top European Union official on Wednesday refused to be drawn on an opinion of an agreement between Italy and Albania to process some migrants in centers set up in the tiny Western Balkan country, saying only that it was being closely monitored. European...

European Commission chief assures Western Balkans of the bloc's enlargement progress

Oct. 23, 2024 12:21 PM EDT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen began a tour of the Western Balkan countries on Wednesday, assuring them that the enlargement of the trade bloc remained one of its priorities. The Western Balkans countrie s — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo,...