Foreign ministers of Albania

Two weeks ahead of presidential elections in Albania, and with general elections looming in June, both the Socialist Prime Minister, Edi Rama, and the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Lulzim Basha, are busy live streaming their meetings and messages via Facebook.

Thousands of demonstrators converged in Tirana to demand the resignation of Albania's Socialist prime minister.

The protesters, led by the opposition Democratic Party, pitched tents on February 18 outside Prime Minister Edi Rama's office to demand his resignation and for a caretaker government to take power and guarantee free elections.

Albania's main opposition party the Democratic Party, PD, will gather citizens from across the country in the capital Tirana for anti-government protests on Saturday afternoon, four months ahead of parliamentary elections set for June 18.

"Four years of arrogance, abandonment, and chaos," was the message carried by the party's promotional video for the protest.

Albanians will soon be able to fly out from a second airport at Kukes in the north after the government and the shareholders of Tirana International Airport, TIA agreed to end the latter's monopoly on flights.

A concession agreement signed by the government on October 2004 gave TIA shareholders, led by AviAlliance company of Germany, exclusive rights to civil flights from Albania.

Albania's opposition Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha travels on Monday to the US with key aides for meetings with members of Congress and US officials to discuss democracy and the rule of law in Albania.

However, BIRN has learned that on the eve of the visit the Democratic Party signed a contract with the lobbying firm Podesta Group to secure access to Washington's top echelons.

The municipality of Tirana is demanding damages from the opposition Democratic Party for damaging state institutions and a bunker in Tuesday's protest.

The municipality said it sought 118,000 euros for damage caused in the different parts of the city during the violent unrest.

The opposition is holding an anti-government rally in Tirana on Tuesday, saying it is the first of a series of actions aimed at ousting the government and replacing it with a technical administration that will hold snap elections.

Albania's Minister of Justice resigned suddenly on Monday, in the middle of presiding over key judicial reforms that the EU considers vital for the country.

Nasip Naco, from the Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI, a coalition party in the Socialist-led government, resigned after two years in office on Monday.

With Grexit now slowly receding in the rear view mirror, Greece’s radical leftist government is returning to more normal international contacts, as Greek FM Nikos Kotzias begins a tour of Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina this week.

On Tuesday, Kotzias will head to Pristina, where he will be received by Kosovo PM Isa Mustafa and his counterpart  Hashim Thaci.