As the year ends, Tirana Times looks back at its major news stories.
January
Jan. 8 – A stalemate between Albania’s president and government over a series of key nominations is likely to continue, after President Bujar Nishani said he will not accommodate a government request to comply with new procedures in filling three vacant seats in the country’s High Court.
The government had asked the president to reopen the process for three seats left vacant in the court by using legislation parliament approved in late December, aiming to have a greater say by the parliamentary majority over the presidential nominations.
Jan. 22 – A fierce debate over lack of competition and the rising tax burden on fuel is taking place in Albania, as global fuel prices have more than halved since their peak in June 2014, but the price at the pump in Albania as fallen only slightly.
The high fuel prices in Albania are not only a result of taxation, but also lack of competition and abuses in a market controlled by three operators, according to Erjon Braà§e, a member of parliament from the ruling Socialist-led coalition and head of the parliamentary economic committee.
Jan. 27 – The European Union has urged the Albanian state to make radical changes in its approach to fighting corruption, according to the findings and recommendations made public this week by an EU project aimed to address graft in Albania.
The findings urge Albanian policy makers and state institutions to make major changes that would including constitutional amendments. It addressed cases of public officials accepting gifts and taking on investigations in other countries where corrupt officials can hide their graft earnings.
February
Feb. 5 – Flash floods caused by heavy rains hit southern Albania hard this week, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents and causing massive damage to homes, livestock and businesses.
There have been no victims, officials said, but more than 500 people have been evacuated. Rescue boats and army helicopters were used to get to many people stuck surrounded by rising water.
Feb. 17 – Seven years after Kosovo’s independence, Albania and Kosovo have made a significant step in overcoming frequent barriers in trade exchanges by establishing the first joint transit corridor at their largest border crossing point.
It is the first step in what officials hope will be an eventual full customs union between the two countries that share the same language and culture.
Feb. 26 – The latest in a series of incidents of police brutality caught on camera has led to the firing of the deputy police chief in the southeastern city of Korà§à« and the suspension of several police officers.
The incident occurred last weekend, and a cell phone video released through social media channels showed how a minor traffic accident between a 31-year-old man and the deputy police chief, Arben Hasani, led to the beating of the driver in public by several police officers.
March
March 5 – One of Albania’s wealthiest business owners, Tom Doshi, has been expelled from the parliamentary group of the ruling Socialist Party after a very public spat with the country’s prime minister, a conflict that included claims by Doshi that he and another MP had been marked for assassination.
The accusations have been dismissed as not credible by Prime Minister Edi Rama and his chief coalition partner, Parliamentary Speaker Ilir Meta, who Doshi accused of ordering the hits.
March 16 – The Albanian government says it plans to borrow Euro 250 million in a 10-year loan to support public investments and expects to raise another Euro 300 to 500 million in its second Eurobond issue later this year.
In a tender announcement, the Finance Ministry says it is seeking proposals by major financial institutions for a 10-year Euro 250 million loan at a fixed interest rate until April 1, 2015 and expects the full disbursement of the amount by next June.
March 25 – Albania aims to open accession negotiations with the European Union by the end of this year, Prime Minister Edi Rama has told EU’s highest enlargement official, adding that Tirana will fulfill several conditions by then.
Johannes Hahn, the EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, held a two-day visit to Tirana this week to co-chair alongside Rama the fifth High Level Dialogue between EU and Albania.
April
April 2 – The upcoming municipal elections are quickly moving to the top of the country’s political agenda, with several candidates and new political coalitions being announced this week.
Voters will elect 61 new mayors in administrative elections that will be a serious test for Albania’s governing leftist Socialist Party-led coalition as well as the main opposition Democratic Party and its leader, Lulzim Basha, the incumbent mayor of Tirana.
April 9 – Albania’s largest foreign investor, Bankers Petroleum, has come under fire over meeting safety and contractual obligations following the eruption of water and gas from two of its oil wells, which caused property damage and forced the evacuation of about 70 local households in south-central Albania last week.
With increased focus over the incident, authorities are also starting to question whether Bankers, a Canada-based publicly-traded company with most of its operations in Albania, is paying its fair share of taxes.
April 28 – A common ethnic market between Albania and Kosovo cannot be established as long as both countries don’t build functional and competitive markets in their own economies, experts announced this week at a forum in Tirana.
“The economic cooperation between the two countries has little substance because of the unfavourable legacy and lack of communication, the implementation of laws, corruption and monopolies. An ethnic market is not possible without building a competitive market,” said Albert Rakipi, the executive director of the Albanian Institute for International Studies at a concluding conference on Albania-Kosovo relations organized this week by AIIS and a partner think tank from Kosovo.
May
May 4 – Albanians work the longest hours and are among the poorest paid in Europe, a survey published by the country’s state statistical institute, INSTAT, has found.
Albanians work an average of 2,102 hours a year and cost employers only Euro 2.2 per hour, ranking Albania the cheapest country in Europe in terms of labour costs for employers, but the worst in terms of income for employees.
May 19 – Albanians are withdrawing deposits from banks to invest them in the more profitable newly established investment funds, according to data published by the country’s central bank and the Financial Supervisory Authority.
With bank interest rates on deposits denominated in the national currency and in Euro standing at a record low, the only two investment fund operators controlled by Raiffeisen Bank, the country’s biggest commercial bank, are emerging as a more competitive alternative for investing savings due to due to higher interest rates compared to traditional bank deposits.
May 28 – Albania and Serbia have turned a corner in improving relations as Aleksandar Vucic became this week the first Serbian prime minister to make an official visit to Tirana, returning the visit his Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, made in Belgrade six months ago.
The two leaders pledged to look beyond their historic disagreements and increase economic and political cooperation in the hopes of a shared future within the European Union, a bloc both countries have applied to join.
June
June 4 – The poor state of the economy and high levels of unemployment are the top concerns for the majority of Albanians ahead of the local administrative elections on June 21, according to a recent report, which also showed grave concerns about corruption and lack of meritocracy in the public administration and pervasive mistrust among voters over candidate’s promises and the political class in general.
The annual survey conducted by the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute was not directly related to the upcoming elections but helps measure the public’s mood and provides a better picture of Albanians’ needs.
June 14 – Authorities have arrested a judge and a defense attorney as they sat down to split the proceeds of a bribe, police said.
Judge Parashqevi Ademi of the Lezha Court of First Instance and Gjovalin Ndokaj, a lawyer, were arrested this week following an investigation of the Serious Crimes Prosecution Office, police said.
June 25 – Albania’s ruling leftist coalition has won 45 out of 61 mayoral races and the majority of seats in municipal councils across the country in last Sunday’s local elections, according to results made public by the Central Elections Commission
The main opposition Democratic Party and its allies won in 15 municipalities. An independent party won in an ethnic minority municipality, based on results with more than 95 percent of the votes counted.
July
July 8 – In a visit to Tirana, German Chancellor Angela Merkel assured Albania and other Western Balkan countries there would be no artificial delays in their EU membership prospects, but warned that there is no set timetable for meeting the required standards and that reforms must continue to take place.
“I can assure you that nothing is being artificially delayed and difficulties are not being created — we want progress to be made, but the point in time is not defined,” Merkel said. “There are assessments from time to time of where we stand, and I think it is recognized everywhere that Albania is making good progress.”
July 15 – Albania and Greece have agreed to put together a group of experts that will reassess the issue of the maritime border between the two countries, the first step in a series of lingering issues the two countries need to address.
The agreement of a technical reassessment of the border agreement came during a visit to Tirana by Greek Foreign Minister Nikolaos Kotzias.
July 22 – Albania’s parliament has approved a higher education law, which has been met with protests by public university staff and students, who say it favors private universities over public institutions and hurts the ability of poor students to attend university due to higher fees.
The government says the new law is needed to improve the quality of the education system in the country and the bill has gone through a long and inclusive consultation process.
August
Aug. 12 – Authorities are trying to ebb the tide of Albanians who want to leave the country for greener pastures in Western Europe, as the latest official numbers showed another increase in asylum claims filed by Albanian citizens in the European Union, primarily in Germany.
The narrative has switched to convince Albanians directly that they have no chances in Germany as asylum seekers, in addition to tougher interviews at border crossings to stop potential asylum seekers before they leave.
Aug. 20 – Demolitions and the confiscation of private property occupying public spaces have started across the city of Tirana, as the new municipal government starts to show off a new law and order campaign that aims to free sidewalks from vendors and illegal construction.
The municipality started the operation in Municipal Unit Nr. 5, which includes the Bllok neighborhood.
Aug 31 – Albania is to receive EU funding to finish up key sections of the north-south highway corridor and to create a better high voltage link with neighboring Macedonia, according to a document released at the end of the Vienna Western Balkans Summit.
The EU investments are set to include road work in the Tirana, Lezha and Tepelena regions and an energy grid connection between Albania and Macedonia.
September
Sept. 7 – An Albanian lawmaker has been arrested and is facing charges for his alleged involvement in a shootout that left seven people wounded early Sunday.
Parliament has given prosecutors the green light to charge Armando Prenga, a Socialist member of parliament from Lezha County, who was arrested immediately after he and members of his family clashed with another group in the vicinity of the Laৠpolice station.
Sept. 17 – Faced with mounting pressure from the domestic opposition and international partners, Albania’s government has come up with a draft law it plans to urgently submit to parliament to ban people with criminal convictions from running for public office.
The draft law list a long number of serious crimes or felonies, a final conviction for which would mean that the offender would not be able to run for elected office in local and national elections as well as be appointed to any position that requires a vote by parliament or local municipal councils..
Sept. 24 – With a nationwide campaign to curb informality already underway, the ruling Socialist Party-led majority has approved in parliament some changes to the tax procedures law which increase penalties on tax evasion up to 50-fold, sparking strong debate with the opposition describing them as repressive and punitive. Some members of the governing coalition and the business community have also expressed concern over the high level of fines.
The new changes approved in accelerated procedures this week envisage fines of up to 10 million lek (€71,000) on big businesses operating in the wholesale trade for not issuing tax receipts, compared to 200,000 lek (€1,411) currently. Fines on small businesses are also envisaged to increase 10-fold from 50,000 lek (€353) to 500,000 lek (€3,529).
October
Oct. 1 – New revelations involving the botched privatization of Albania’s power distribution monopoly and corruption allegations in contracts the company had with third parties have led to calls for an international investigation.
New facts made public this week show CEZ Shperndarje, then privately owned by a Czech company and now state-owned and re-branded as OSHEE, paid more than 4 million euros to International Debt Advisory, a company owned by Kastriot Ismailaj, who is currently in jail on money laundering charges.
Oct. 8 – Prime Minister Edi Rama has repeated his stance that he is not planning to reshuffle his government, but talk of changes to the cabinet persisted after Rama’s junior coalition partner, Ilir Meta, indicated a reshuffle might be necessary.
With several of his ministers facing an array of accusations from the opposition and other public actors, Rama is under pressure to recompose his cabinet, but he said this week those spreading the news of change in the cabinet were working against the government and its program.
Oct. 27 – Albania’s business climate suffered a major setback in the past year, losing 35 places in the World Bank Doing Business report on a sharp deterioration in dealing with construction permits.
Albania ranked 97th out of 189 countries in the 2016 Doing Business report, from a revised 62nd last year, lagging behind all regional countries.
November
Nov. 5 – After getting additional attention to their cause by throwing eggs and shouting angry slogans at Albania’s prime minister this week, a group of public university students and professors organized under the University Movement banner have vowed more acts of protest and civil disobedience to prevent the implementation of a controversial higher education law, which they say makes it more expensive to attend university and favors private universities over public institutions.
“As the prime minister likes to say, ‘You haven’t seen nothing yet.’ The resistance continues,” said Klodi Hoxha, one of the protesters. “This law might have passed in parliament, but it will not pass into the university.”
Nov. 16 – Albania’s government declared Monday a day of mourning to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Flags across Albania are flying at half mast and a minute of silence is to be observed at noon.
Nov. 23 – Issues ranging from the flow of refugees making their way through the Western Balkans to the needed reforms for EU integration were in focus as the head of EU’s executive branch visited Tirana and the region over the weekend.
To address the refugee crisis, the EU will work together with non-member Western Balkan countries that are now part of a major transit route to the EU, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Commission, said at a Tirana press conference.
December
Dec. 9 – Aiming to capitalize on the public’s growing unease with the Socialist-led government over the state of the economy and mounting accusations of corruption and mismanagement, Albania’s main opposition Democratic Party held Tuesday a large protest rally accompanied by egg and paint attacks on the prime minister’s offices and the burning of a controversial memorial featuring a replica bunker.
The Democrats’ leader, Lulzim Basha, said the large attendance at the rally was “a referendum against the government,” which should resign as soon as possible and make way for a custodian government.
Dec. 21 – In a rare show of political consensus, Albanian lawmakers have approved a law banning people with criminal convictions from holding elected and other high public offices.
The bill, better known as “the decriminalization law,” received a near-unanimous 132 out of 140 votes and came following months of discussion after it came to light that several people elected to public office had criminal convictions in Albania and abroad.
