TIRANA, Jan. 9 – British renowned magazine The Economist ranked Albania among the last in Europe in its 2018 Democracy Index, stating the country’s political system is a mixture between democracy and autocracy, without making any steps towards a full-functioning
TIRANA, Jan. 8 – The vetting process’ Independent Qualification Commission announced on Tuesday its decision to dismiss from office the head of the Saranda Court Alltun Cela under the country’s judicial reform. The IQC investigated Cela’s accumulated wealth, his moral
TIRANA, Jan. 8 – Albania’s main opposition Democratic Party has blamed the tough business climate and the high tax burden for the closure of some 15,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in 2018, two-thirds more compared to 2017. The opposition Democrats
By Ervin Lisaku TIRANA, Jan. 8 – With a nationwide ban on gambling in force since Jan. 1, thousands of gambling businesses have officially closed down, bringing to an end what had become a booming industry, but a small number
TIRANA, Jan. 8 – Although one of Europe’s smallest countries in terms of area and population, the favorable Mediterranean climate with plenty of sunshine ranks Albania one of the top agricultural producers among 38 European nations. Data published by Eurostat,
TIRANA, Jan. 7 – According to aides at the US Senate’s Foreign Affairs Commission, the candidacy of Kathleen Ann Kavalec, proposed to succeed Donald Lu as US Ambassador to Albania, was sent back to US President Donald Trump unapproved on
TIRANA, Jan. 7 – In Albania, Prime Minister Edi Rama’s decision to replace Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati with young and inexperienced Gent Cakaj from Kosovo has caused controversy in context of the foreign policy challenges Albania faces this year. On
TIRANA, Jan. 7 – Business and consumer confidence dropped for the third quarter in a row in late 2018, signaling that the decade-high growth of around 4.2 percent that Albania is estimated to have registered last year was not enough
TIRANA, Dec. 7 – Public university students have resumed protesting to have their economic and academic demands met, thus marking a full-month’s boycott of university halls. Although their numbers have significantly dropped in comparison to December, when thousands were railing
TIRANA, Jan. 7 – Hundreds of workers at Albania’s sole major oil refiner have temporarily remained jobless in a repeated scenario in the past decade following a failed privatization of the Armo oil refiner, where the Albanian government still holds
