Latest News from Albania

Albanians Fighting Abroad Face 10 Years' Jail

The amendment initiated by the ministry of justice follows reports that a growing number of Albanian citizens have joined radical Islamist groups fighting in the Syrian civil war.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Arjan Dyrmishi, a security expert with the Albanian Institute of Democracy and Mediation told Balkan Insight.

Montenegro Bows to Gusinje’s Municipal Ambitions

Montenegro is to get a new 23rd municipality after parliament verified a government decision adopted last December to grant municipal status to Gusinje.

The small town in northern Montenegro, near Albania, which has only around 2,000 inhabitants but a large diaspora in the US, is mainly home to ethnic Bosniaks and Albanians.

PM attends EBRD conference in London

PM Ivica Dačić participated in a high-level regional forum organized in London on Monday by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

He presented Serbia's results in the creation of favorable business and investment environment, emphasizing that no project can be implemented without stability of the region.

Albania Govt ‘Failed to Uphold Pre-Poll Promises’

Out of the 17 electoral promises made by the centre-left government of Prime Minister Edi Rama that Mjaft evaluated as part of its Truthometer project, seven were realised, seven were not realised, one was judged to be unmeasurable and two others were only party fulfilled.

Rama’s government took office in September, promising to usher in a ‘renaissance’ for Albania.

More Macedonians Seek Asylum in Germany

The German Federal Service on Migration and Refugees said that 9,420 people from Macedonia lodged asylum applications in Germany in 2013, Deutsche Welle reported.

The figure represents a sharp increase from 2012, when almost 6,900 Macedonians sought asylum in Germany, and from 2011, when there were 1,750 applicants from the Balkan state.

Macedonia Launches Construction of Key Motorways

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski announced over the weekend the start of work on the two new motorway segments financed by a loan of 574 million euro from the Chinese Export-Import Bank.

In Serbia every 5th individual jobless

In the first month of 2014 even 42,771 jobless people have registered them with the National Employment Service. That is almost 2,000 people more than in December last year.

Serbia's first match in EC qualifications will be in Armenia

BELGRADE - Serbia will start the qualifications for the UEFA European Championship in France in 2016 with an away match against Armenia on October 11 this year, and three days later the team will face Albania at home.

Dacic to attend EBRD conference in London on Monday

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic will participate in the high-level regional conference of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which will be held in London on Monday under the title 'Investing in the Western Balkans'.

Albanian Opposition Lambast 'Mafia' Government

Addressing the rally, the Democratic Party head, Lulzim Basha, said Thursday’s March, held on the 23rd anniversary of the overthrow of the commuist regime, was only the start of a broader protest campaign.

Albania Opposition to Rally in Tirana

Announcing the rally in Tirana, Albania's former Democratic Party Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, said Edi Rama's new left-of-centre government had based "everything on deception, falsity and violence against the opposition and the people”.

“The fraud committed by Edi Rama in turning his electoral platform upside down is quickly making his government illegitimate,” he added.

Romania's GDP growth leads the EU

Quarterly economic growth registers at 1.7 percent in Romania, Eurostat says. In other business news: Turkey ranks third in a list of the world's friendliest destinations for Muslim travellers; Albania encourages Italian investment.

The GDP in Romania grew by 5.1 percent this year. [AFP]

Serbia ranks 54th in world according to Press Freedom Index

PARIS - Serbia ranks 54th among 180 world countries according to the degree of freedom of the media, while Macedonia and Montenegro are the lowest ranked countries in the Balkans according to the Press Freedom Index for 2014, Reporters without Borders organisation released.

Last year, Serbia claimed the 63rd place on the list.

Copies of Our Lady of Ljevis frescoes in northern Mitrovica

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - An exhibition titled 'Details of the iconography at the Church of Our Lady of Ljevis' has opened at the town museum in Kosovska Mitrovica, in cooperation with the Belgrade-based National Museum, as part of the events marking the Statehood Day of Serbia.