Tirana

The left-wing coalition headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama won or is leading in key races in the local elections held on Sunday in Albania, but its victory is expected to be much less convincing than in 2013.

Albanian prosecutors have seized the bank accounts and shares of companies under the ownership of the Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti and his business partners following a long investigation into money laundering.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic met with Albanian Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta in Tirana Wednesday to discuss relations between the two countries.

They also spoke about "ways to improve economic cooperation, including establishing direct flights between Belgrade and Tirana," Tanjug reported.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta is taking part today in a summit meeting in Tirana, Albania, of the South-East Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) heads of state or government. The Romanian Government reports that accompanying Ponta to the meeting will be Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu.

Erdogan calls on Europe "to take in more migrants"

TIRANA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Europe to take in more migrants and refugees from Syria and Iraq.

The Albanian Foreign Ministry on Friday handed a warning regarding Greece?s plans to search for hydrocarbon reserves in the Ionian Sea to the country?s ambassador in Tirana, Leonidas Rokanas.

The Albanian government?s note verbale claims that the area covered by the research includes parts of the neighboring country?s continental shelf. Athens denies this is the case.

Parties in Albania condemned a man who threw a chair amid a crowd attending a Democratic Party rally in Kolonja, in southeast Albania on Wednesday, injuring a 63-year-old.

The chairman of the Democratic Party and current Mayor of Tirana, Lulzim Basha, was also at the rally where the local candidate for mayor was being presented.

BRUSSELS - Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that Tuesday's meeting in Brussels of the six prime ministers from the Western Balkans was important because they considered ways in which the EU could take an active part in infrastructure projects across the five Western Balkan countries and the territory of Kosovo.

PM: EU's active participation in infrastructure projects

BRUSSELS -- Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that Tuesday's meeting in Brussels of the six prime ministers from the Western Balkans was "important."

The Environmental Inspectorate, ISHM on Friday ordered Kurum's plant near the city of Elbasan in central Albania to stop work after it found in an investigation that the company generates 48,000 tons of metal slag waste every year, including zinc oxide and lead dust.