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Shifting political alliances
SMI leader Ilir Meta looks at SP leader Edi Rama at their recent meeting in Tirana.
TIRANA, May 17 - Opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama and Ilir Meta of the Socialist Movement for Integration met for the first time recently since the June 2009 elections that saw Meta, once a Socialist prime minister, become kingmaker for the current Democratic Party-led government, which has been in power ever since through a coalition with SMI.

The meeting is part of political calculations on all sides of political spectrum over the election of the new president in parliament later this summer and the parliamentary elections scheduled for 2013, analysts say.
Article Category: News
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EU integration should be more than a talking point
Tirana, May 17 - It has been the phrase on the mouth of every Albanian politician for more than a decade: "EU integration." It is used to justify every action -- every compromise. Some parties have even used the word "integration" in their official name. But the fact that Albania's integration process has been dead in its tracks for nearly three years is far more important in showing how Albanian politicians are acting - which isvery different from what they have been saying. European officials have been crystal clear about what needs to be done to advance Albania's EU bid.
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News
EU says Albania’s progress now better, but more work needed
TIRANA, May 15 — The Stabilization and Association Council (SA Council) between Albania and the European Union held its fourth meeting on Tuesday with the participation of Edmond Haxhinasto, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Minister for Integration Majlinda Bregu and opposition Socialist Party Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on EU integration Ditmir Bushati. The EU delegation was led by Villy Soevndal, Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Commissioner Stefan Fuele, and EEAS Director for the Western Balkans Division Fernando Gentilini. The SA Council noted the generally
News
Albanian parties fail on electoral reform
TIRANA, May 16 – Digital ballot counting, formulae of the make-up of the Central Election Commission and the complaining process were the three issues which the two main political parties _ the governing Democratic party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the main opposition Socialist Party of Edi Rama _ failed to reach a consensus, thus giving an end to six months of work on the electoral reform. Damian Gjiknuri of the Socialists and Oerd Bylykbashi of the Democrats said Tuesday evening that everything remains in the hands of the parliament as the working period for the parliamentary working committee had come to an end.
Business and Economy
Central bank says economy slowing down in 2012
TIRANA, May 14 - Albania’s central bank says economic growth is likely to have decelerated in the first quarter of this year after both domestic consumption and private investments, the two key drivers of this year’s expected growth, failed to recover. In its monetary policy report for the first quarter of this year, the Bank of Albania says a slowdown is reported in all economic sectors, except for services whose confidence has shown signs of recovery. In addition, exports’ drop in the first quarter of this year has further aggravated matters. “The external economic situation, especially in the Eurozone, creates an unfavourable environment for the growth of Albanian exports. The uncertainties of economic growth, the slow increase in revenues and the relatively
Business and Economy
Five economy ministry officials sued for concession abuses
TIRANA, May 15 - Albania’s High State Audit says it has filed lawsuits against 5 officials of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy (METE) after identifying abuses with concession contracts in the copper, chrome and hydroelectricity areas. In a report covering a Jan. 2010 - Sept. 2011, the High State Audit says the abuses have caused the state budget financial damage of 1.8 billion lek (Euro 13 million). The financial damage is a result of failure to implement conditions in the concession contracts after violations were identified in most of the audited contracts. The report says that among 126 audited concession contracts, 84 of them had serious violations while for another 24 contracts penalties worth around 6 million lek had not been calculated or
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