DECEMBER
Albania passes lustration law
TIRANA – Albania has passed a law removing public posts from people linked to the feared former communist secret police, despite criticism from opposition parties.
Lawmakers voted 74-2 Monday for the law, while one abstained. The remaining 63 opposition deputies in the 140-seat Parliament have boycotted the vote.
The law approved Monday applies to all members and associates of the former secret police Sigurimi, from November 1944 when Albania was liberated from Nazi occupiers until the collapse of Communism in December 1990.
Austrian, Norwegian companies to build 3 hydro power plants
TIRANA – Austrian power utility EVN and Norwegian Statkraft plan to build three hydroelectric power stations in Albania at a cost of euro950 million.
The three power plants, with an average annual capacity of 1,000 gigawatt hours, will be built at the Devoll River in southeastern Albania over a period of eight years. The Vienna-based EVN and Oslo-based Statkraft, which are in a 50-50 partnership, are still in the process of planning and no starting date has been set for construction, the ministry said.
Albania withdraws its 218 troops from Iraq
TIRANA – Albania’s Defense Ministry says the country is pulling its 218 troops out of Iraq.
Albanian troops have been serving in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul since 2003.
Albania also has small army units in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Chad. The predominantly Muslim nation was invited to join NATO in April and expects to become a full member next year.
American Reserve Life Insurance Company buys Insig
TIRANA – American Reserve Life Insurance Company has agreed to buy Albania’s state-owned insurance company Insig for euro41 million.
The Dallas-based company won an international tender against nine other bidders and is in the last technical negotiations with Albanian authorities to take over the company.
Insig became Albania’s state-owned insurance company in 1991 and now ranks second and third in the country’s life and non-life insurance markets, respectively.
Albanian president sends electoral legislation back to parliament
TIRANA – The Albanian president has refused to ratify electoral legislation that critics say could exclude small political parties from parliament.
President Bamir Topi wants lawmakers to reconsider a clause calling for the president to decree national elections nine months in advance.
Berlusconi in Albania for signing of $2.5 billion energy deal for gas plant, wind farm
TIRANA – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visited Albania to attend the signing of two major energy contracts worth euro2 billion.
Albanian officials say the deals _ for a wind farm and a gas-powered electricity plant _ will help ease the country’s acute energy problems and provide power for the international market.
Berlusconi also promised to back Albania’s efforts to join the EU.
NOVEMBER
Foreign Minister charged over highway construction contract
TIRANA – A judicial official says an Albanian prosecutor has charged Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha following a corruption investigation into the awarding of a highway contract.
Basha was formally accused of abuse of post following an investigation into allegations Basha improperly favored a U.S.-Turkish joint venture when awarding a $542 million (euro418 million) highway contract in 2006 while he was transport minister.
Scottish charity worker jailed 20 years
TIRANA – A court convicted a Scottish charity worker of sexually molesting children at his orphanage in Albania and jailed him for 20 years.
Reading the verdict against John David Brown, 57, of Edinburgh, Judge Gerd Hoxha described him as “a threat to society” and said he would be deported from Albania after completing his sentence.
Two Englishmen who worked at the orphanage _ Dino Christodoulou and Robin Arnold _ also have been charged with sexually molesting children there, and they have been extradited to Albania to stand trial later.
Albanian lawmakers end hunger strike as parliament approves new election law
TIRANA – A group of Albanian lawmakers ended an eight-day hunger strike shortly before the country’s parliament approved a new election law, ignoring their demands.
The 10 hunger strikers are members of the small parties which they said would suffer under the new law that assigns seats to the 140-seat parliament based more heavily on regional preference.
The law passed by 112-1 votes late Tuesday, with the support of Albania’s two largest parties. The 10 deputies called off their hungers strike shortly before the vote. General elections are due next year.
Thousands rally in support of lawmakers on hunger strike over election law
TIRANA – More than 3,000 people have protested in front of Albania’s parliament, in support of 10 lawmakers on hunger strike in opposition to a draft election law.
The deputies have been on a weeklong hunger strike since last Monday to protest the election law changes which they say will keep small parties out of parliament.
3 found dead in collapsed building
TIRANA – Rescue teams found the bodies of two women and a child beneath the rubble of an apartment building that partially collapsed in southern Albania.
Fifteen people were evacuated when part of the building collapsed in Gjirokastra, 140 miles (225 kilometers) south of Tirana; four of those were slightly injured.
They found the bodies of the two women, one aged 65 and the other 35. The younger woman’s daughter, 12, was found dead later in the day.
Mullai said the collapse was believed to have been caused by construction work on an adjacent apartment building.
Lawmakers on hunger strike over law they say excludes small parties from parliament
TIRANA – Eleven lawmakers from small Albanian opposition parties have started a hunger strike to protest a draft electoral law.
The deputies, some of whom belong to a party in Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s governing coalition, claim the draft law is aimed at keeping small parties out of Parliament.
OCTOBER
Albania rebuffs Serbian prosecutor probing claims of organ traffic
TIRANA – Albania’s top prosecutor said she would not help a visiting Serbian war crimes prosecutor who is investigating claims that guerrillas killed Serb prisoners for their organs during the Kosova war.
Albanian Prosecutor-General Ina Rama said the country would only assist prosecutors from the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague on the case _ if they want to reopen it, according to a statement from her office.
Tribunal prosecutors had conducted an investigation in 2005 and concluded that the organ trafficking claims were not true.
4 dead from Albanian boat accident
TIRANA – Police found four dead bodies from a capsized boat that was carrying illegal immigrants on a lake in southern Albania, Butrinti Lake, close to the Greek border.
The small fishing boat carrying 13 people sank only 60 meters from shore.
US provides Albania with $15.7 million in aid to fight corruption, bolster judiciary
TIRANA – The United States gave Albania $15.7 million aid to help it tackle corruption and bolster its judiciary.
The agreement aimed at reducing corruption and inefficiency in tax administration, establish a one-stop agency for business licensing and create a transparent construction permit system.
The two-year program, managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, will also finance the creation of units in six cities in the tiny Balkan country to investigate corruption.
Actor Everett works on documentary in Albania
TIRANA – Actor Rupert Everett is playing Lord Byron in a British documentary on the Romantic poet’s travels in Albania, and spent five days filming on location that included travel by mule.
The documentary for Channel 4 television will trace Byron’s connection with this tiny Balkan country on the 200th anniversary of his journey here, they said. The program is due to be broadcast next year.
Labor minister replaced after infighting in his party
TIRANA – Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has replaced his labor minister following infighting in his governing coalition.
Kosta Barka lost his position after a disagreement with leaders of his small Human Rights Union party, a member of Berisha’s governing center right coalition.
Berisha named Anastas Duro as the new Labor, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Minister. The portfolio is held by the HRU, which mainly represents Albania’s ethnic Greek minority.
SEPTEMBER
Albania government signs contracts worth euro38 million for industrial parks
TIRANA – The Albanian government signed two contracts worth euro38 million to build industrial parks in port cities and create 22,000 jobs.
Albania company IDEA Vlora will spend euro21 million (US$30.7 million) in Vlora, and Germany’s ATX International will spend euro17 million (US$24.8 million) in Shengjin.
The parks will host light industry and food plants, the Economy, Trade and Energy Ministry said in a statement.
Fugitive from collapsed pyramid scheme arrested in Uruguay
TIRANA – Albanian police say a fugitive who ran a failed pyramid investment scheme has been arrested in Uruguay.
50-year-old Bashkim Driza is under house arrest in Uruguay pending Albania’s extradition request.
Driza was sentenced to 16 years in prison in absentia for swindling 870 million leks (then worth US$5.6 million) from some 300,000 creditors in one of 24 pyramid schemes that collapsed.
Europe gives $357 million in aid to reform Albania’s economy, integration efforts
TIRANA – The European Commission gave Albania 245 million euros to help it prepare for accession to the European Union.
The three-year package will focus on agriculture, transport and energy, environmental and regional development, as well as police and judiciary reform.
The EU is the biggest donor of aid to Albania, providing more than 1.2 billion euros since 1991.
Anti-government rally
TIRANA – Thousands of Albanians marched have through Tirana to protest the government’s alleged mishandling of an investigation into deadly explosions this year at an ammunition dump.
The peaceful protest was organized by the main opposition Socialist Party, which called for Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s government to resign. More than 5,000 people took part in the march.
The Socialists claim the governing Democrats have tried to prevent an impartial investigation by exerting pressure on Albania’s judiciary.
Parliament approves deal to sell state oil company to US-Swiss consortium
TIRANA – Albania’s parliament approved an agreement to sell 85 percent of state oil company ARMO to a U.S.-Swiss consortium.
The consortium is comprised of the Texas-based Refinery Associates of Texas, and Geneva, Switzerland-based Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Anika Enterprises.
It won an international tender in June, offering US$183 million.
Albanian TV station protests fine over political spot
TIRANA – An independent Albanian TV station accused Prime Minister Sali Berisha of trying to gag media critics after it was fined over an anti-government advertisement.
Private News24 said the 800,000-lek (US$9,700; euro6,700) fine from Albania’s national broadcasting regulator, NCRT, was “a political act”
AUGUST
US-Swiss consortium signs contract to buy Albania’s ARMO state oil company
TIRANA – The Albanian government says it has signed a contract for the sale of 85 percent of the Albanian ARMO state oil company after negotiating terms with a U.S.-Swiss consortium in a deal worth euro128.75 million.
JULY
3 charged with murder over deadly arms-disposal factory blast
TIRANA – The Albanian prosecutor general’s office says three people, including a Defense Ministry employee, are being charged with murder after an accident that caused massive explosions at an ammunition disposal factory killed 26 people and injured 300.
Albania premier names deputy
TIRANA – Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has reshuffled his Cabinet, filling the post of his deputy, left vacant in the aftermath of a deadly arms depot explosions in March.
Outgoing Education Minister Genc Pollo becomes the new deputy prime minister.
Pollo’s post was filled by Fatos Beja, the current deputy speaker of the parliament.
Anila Godo, a medical doctor, was named health minister to replace Nard Ndoka.
Albania sends troops to Chad to join EU force
TIRANA – Sixty-two Albanian soldiers have left to join a European Union-led force in Chad.
Albanian defense officials say the troops will spend a year helping to protect refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region. Refugees are sheltering in camps near Chad’s capital, N’Djamena.
Albania to send additional 95 troops to Iraq
TIRANA – Albania’s defense minister says Tirana will send 95 more soldiers to Iraq
where it has a 120-strong unit already serving in Mosul.
Croatia, Albania sign NATO membership accords
BRUSSELS – Croatia and Albania have signed NATO membership accords, opening the way for them to join the western military alliance, probably by early next year.
They will become full members, under the alliance’s defense umbrella, after membership is ratified by their parliaments and those of the 26 current members.
JUNE
Albania signs euro66.2 million loan with Japanese bank for canal project
TIRANA – Albania’s Finance Ministry says it has signed a euro66.2 million loan with a Japanese bank to modernize an urban canal network in the capital, Tirana.
The Japan Bank for International Cooperation loan will have a 40-year repayment period.
US ambassador in Albania denies role in alleged arms scandal
TIRANA – The U.S. ambassador to Albania denied claims by a senior American congressman that he was linked to an alleged arms scandal involving shipments of ammunition to Afghanistan.
An embassy statement said Ambassador John L. Withers II believes “the evidence in this matter, fully presented, will dissolve any and every assertion made against him, his staff, or his government.”
Henry Waxman, a California Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, alleged that Withers had been aware that U.S. contractor AEY Inc. was removing evidence of the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition being shipped from Albania to Afghanistan.
AEY came under scrutiny after a series of explosions at its factory in Albania on March 15 killed 26 people and injured about 300.
Albanian ammunition disposal workers demand compensation for blast victims
TIRANA – Albanian ammunition disposal workers held a protest near Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s office, seeking compensation for victims of a deadly blast three months ago.
The eight workers, who are on the 13th day of a hunger strike, say they appealed to Berisha for help after other officials refused to meet their demands. Berisha’s office had no comment on the protest.
Albanian army chief fired over deadly ammunition dump blast
TIRANA – Albania’s army chief of staff was fired over an accident at an ammunition depot three months ago that killed more than two dozen people.
Lt. Gen. Luan Hoxha was removed from his post by President Bamir Topi following a recommendation from Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Albania to send troops to Chad, Central African Republic as part of EU force
TIRANA – Albania’s Defense Ministry says it will send 62 soldiers to Chad and the Central African Republic as part of a European Union mission to protect refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region.
US-Swiss consortium wins tender to buy Albania’s ARMO state oil company
TIRANA – The government has said a US-Swiss consortium has won an international tender to buy 85 percent of Albania’s state-run ARMO oil company.
The consortium made up of Texas-based Refinery Associates of Texas, Geneva-based Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Geneva-based Anika Enterprises, bid euro125 million for the purchase.
MAY
Israeli experts study how Albanian Jews escaped Holocaust
TIRANA – Israeli historians are gathering in Albania to study how the Balkan country rescued its tiny Jewish population from the Holocaust.
Mordechai Arbell, of the World Jewish Congress said, “the heroic rescue of Jews in Albania is very exceptional.”
Some 1,200 Jewish residents and refugees from other Balkan countries were hidden by Albanian families during World War II, according to official records.
Albanian former deputy transport minister jailed for corruption
TIRANA – A Tirana court has sentenced a former deputy transport minister to 19 months in prison for alleged corruption in public tenders.
Nikolin Jaka has also been fined 1.2 million leks (US$15,600; euro10,000) and barred from holding public office for three years. The court ruled that Jaka allegedly took bribes to award state contracts to private companies.
Once-isolated Albania takes first step on international property ladder
TIRANA – A real estate boom in Albania? Property experts believe it’s coming.
“At this moment, Albania is a good market that should improve the housing stock, increase office space, develop retail schemes and shopping centers,” said Philip Bay of real estate consultants Colliers International.
EU tells Albanian PM to implement required reforms
BRUSSELS – European Union officials have told Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha he needs to implement required reforms if his country wants to one day join the EU.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says Albania needs to show “a solid track record” of reform before it can move ahead with its wish to start entry negotiations to join the 27-nation bloc. Barroso spoke to reporters on Monday after talks with Berisha.
4 Albanian defense ministry officials arrested linked to ammunition dump blast< TIRANA - Albania's Prosecutor General says four Defense Ministry officials have been arrested and accused of corruption in connection with a series of deadly explosion at an ammunition depot. APRIL FIFA lifts Albania suspension ZURICH - FIFA is lifting the suspension of Albania after the sports minister stopped what it regarded as government interference in the national soccer federation. Prosecutor General wants to question ex-defense minister in ammunition disposal case TIRANA - Albania's Prosecutor General has asked parliament to lift the immunity of former Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu, accusing him of abuse of power related to a deadly ammunition depot explosion. Albania says claims Serbs were killed for organs are "inventions and absurdities" TIRANA - Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha denounced as "inventions and absurdities" claims that Serb civilians were killed in Albania and their organs sold after the 1999 war in Kosovo. "We are sorry that a former international chief prosecutor ... should write a book full of inventions and absurdities which are not only immoral but also libelous," Basha said. Ex-communist Albania changes voting system in constitutional shake up TIRANA - Albania passed constitutional amendments to give its voting system greater proportional representation. The changes were fiercely opposed by small opposition parties, which argued the new system would make it harder for them to win national representation. Lawmakers voted 115-13 to approve the reforms, which also change parliamentary procedures for confidence votes and electing the country's president, as well as the status of the country's powerful prosecutor general. The new voting rules scrap a partial majority system in favor of proportional representation within each of Albania's 12 administrative regions. Albtelecom signs $159 million loan to upgrade its technology TIRANA - Albania's phone company Albtelecom signed a 100 million euro loan from two banks to upgrade its technology and increase capacity. The company said it was borrowing 75 million euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and 25 million euros from the Black Sea Bank for Reconstruction and Development to upgrade its network, increase capacity and improve service. Albania, Croatia hailed from Bush on joining NATO ZAGREB - U.S. President George W. Bush thanked Croatia, Macedonia and Albania for participating in the war against terror. MARCH Albania, Croatia invited to join NATO BUCHAREST - NATO leaders invited Croatia and Albania to join the alliance, but Greek vetoed the entry of Macedonia, saying the Balkan nation's name implies a threat to a neighboring Greek province also called Macedonia. Albania's airport signs up for euro22 million loan to extend terminal TIRANA - Albania's Tirana Airport has signed a euro22 million loan with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to extend its passenger terminal to 1.5 million a year, a 50 percent rise. French company to produce biometric passports for Albania TIRANA - Interior Minister Bujar Nishani says the government has chosen a French company to produce new biometric passports and identity cards for Albania. Paris-based Sagem Securite will start producing ID cards and new passports within the next six months. Turkey supports Albania's NATO membership TIRANA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will strongly support Albania's efforts to join NATO at the alliance's summit next week. Erdogan is visiting Albania to promote commercial ties and urge more Turkish investment in Albania, one of Europe's poorest countries. Turkey has invested some US$620 million in Albanian industries. Turkey is one of Albania's main economic partners with annual trade between the two of US$318 million. UEFA postpones Albania match after FIFA suspension Switzerland - UEFA has postponed Albania's next qualifier for the under-21 European Championship after the country was suspended from international soccer by FIFA. FIFA suspended Albania because of what it called heavy political interference by the country's government into the national soccer federation's affairs. Albania defense minister resigns after deadly depot blast TIRANA - Albanian Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu has resigned after a weapons depot blast killed 11 people and injured nearly 300. Deadly ammunition disposal plant blast TIRANA - A massive explosion at an Albanian army ammunition dump killing 26 and injuring 300, including many children. Eagle Mobile becomes 3rd cell phone operator in Albania TIRANA - Eagle Mobile, a telecoms provider owned by a Turkish consortium, says it has become Albania's third mobile phone operator. The company says it has begun operating in Tirana, the capital; in Durres to the west of Tirana, and at the country's international airport. Albania has two other cell phone operators _ Albanian Mobile Communication, or AMC, and Vodafone Albania, with about 2.5 million clients in this country of 3.3 million. EU and Albania start negotiations on visa-free travel TIRANA - Albania and the EU are launching talks on lifting travel restrictions for Albanians visiting the bloc's 27 member states. Boat overloaded with partygoers sinks in lake, 16 dead TIRANA - Twin toddlers who should have been celebrating their third birthday were among 16 people who drowned overnight when a boat carrying partygoers from a lakeside restaurant capsized and sank. After a party, the group of 19 people piled into a boat which police said had a capacity of seven people at most in order to get to a road on the other side of the lake. Albania, Croatia, Macedonia say NATO membership will stabilize Balkans TIRANA - Albania, Croatia and Macedonia issued a joint plea to NATO, arguing their membership would stabilize the troubled Balkan region. "We are convinced that the expansion of the Alliance ... will be an added value both to the stability in the region, as well as to the NATO capability in Southeastern Europe," said the letter signed by the foreign minister of the three countries. Military searches for reported helicopter crash in northern Albania TIRANA - Military and police officials searched a rugged area in northern Albania Tuesday after residents reported seeing a helicopter crash. The Defense Ministry said none of its aircraft were missing, adding that NATO's force in neighboring Kosova, and from any of its member countries, also were not involved. After initially reporting the incident as a helicopter crash, the ministry later described the alleged crash as "unofficial and unconfirmed." FEB Albanians overwhelmingly positive on NATO membership TIRANA - A new poll shows Albanians are overwhelmingly in favor of joining NATO. The survey of 450 people found 91.3 percent of people in the tiny former Communist country want to join the western alliance, while just 1.8 percent are opposed. Albania launches international tender for state-owned oil company TIRANA - Albania has launched an international tender for an 85 percent stake in the state-owned ARMO oil company. ARMO owns two refineries at Ballsh and Fier, 100 kilometers south of the capital, Tirana. It also owns a research center, 11 depots and a network of gas stations, which according to company figures are valued at a total 109 million euros. Albania hails Kosova's independence TIRANA - Albania hailed Kosova's independence and recognized the new neighboring state. Greece returns stolen ancient statues to Albania ATHENS - Greece returned two stolen ancient statues to Albanian authorities _ describing the gesture as a boost to international cooperation in repatriating looted antiquities. The marble statues had been stolen from the archaeological site at Butrint in southern Albania in the early 1990s and seized in Greece from a private collection in 1997. The life-size headless statues of mythological figures Artemis and Apollo are estimated to be 2,200 and 1,800-years-old. JAN Albania has plan to help Kosovo if Serbia imposes blockade BRUSSELS - Albania has drawn up plans to help Kosova counter any blockade Serbia might impose in response to a declaration of independence by its southern province. Albania's prime minister Sali Berisha said Albania would open up road, sea and air links for the breakaway province, which is populated mostly by ethnic Albanians. Albania approves euro1bn deals to modernize power plant, build hydroelectric stations TIRANA - Albania's government approved deals worth euro1 billion to modernize a power station and build three new hydroelectric plants to help ease the country's chronic power-supply problems. The Energy Ministry said the Greek-based consortium Atermon SA, Roder & Blackwell Consulting will invest euro100 million in a power station at Fier, 100 kilometers south of the capital, Tirana, increasing output from 159 megawatts to 200 megawatts, and enabling the station to comply with European Union emission standards. Authorities also granted a concession to the Austrian power utility EVN AG to spend euro900 million (US$1.32 billion) on building three hydroelectric plants in six years on the Devolli River, 200 kilometers southeast of Tirana, with a combined output of 319 megawatts. Albania holds ceremony to resistance that helped save Jews from Holocaust TIRANA - Albania held a ceremony in parliament to commemorate resistance efforts during World War II that helped the country's tiny Jewish minority escape the Holocaust. Some 1,200 Jews, residents and refugees from other Balkan countries, were hidden by Albanian families during the war, according to official records. Albanian foreign minister in Washington for NATO membership WASHINGTON - Albania's foreign minister said his country will meet NATO's requirements by the time the alliance considers expansion at its April summit in Bucharest. Albania's airport sees record traffic after expansion TIRANA - Albania's Mother Teresa International Airport said it handled record traffic in 2007, following its expansion by a German-U.S. consortium. The Tirana airport handled 1.1 million passengers and 3,483 tons of cargo Turkish steel plant ordered to halt operations after deadly blast TIRANA - Albanian authorities ordered the temporary closure of a Turkish-owned steel plant where an explosion killed one worker and critically injured six. The blast in the town of Elbasan, 55 kilometers (34 miles), south of the capital, Tirana, was caused by technical defects at the plant's furnace, Labor Inspectorate officials said. Germany grants Albania euro8.5 million in aid for national park, urban canals TIRANA - Germany granted Albania a total of euro8.5 million in aid for a major national park and an urban canal network. The money would be used to improve management of the park around Prespa Lake, 200 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tirana, on Albania's border with Macedonia and Greece. The remaining euro5 million is earmarked to improve the urban canal network at the Pogradec tourist resort on Lake Ohrid, 140 kilometers east of Tirana. 3 arrested after deadly Albanian metal plant blast TIRANA - Two Turkish furnace technicians and their Albanian colleague were arrested after an explosion at a scrap metal factory killed a worker and left six others critically injured. International press distributors threaten to stop sending papers to Albania over new tax TIRANA - International press distributors threatened to stop sending overseas newspapers and magazines to Albania because of a new tax approved by parliament. Peter Emod, managing director of the Zurich-based agency Distripress, wrote a letter to Albanian President Bamir Topi urging him not to ratify the law, adopted by parliament last month, levying a 20 percent tax on all imported press products. The law could also seriously affect foreign book imports, according to Distripress' Albanian affiliate Adrion Ltd. Dutchman Arie Haan to coach Albania's national soccer squad TIRANA - Dutch coach Arie Haan has taken over Albania's national squad. Haan, 58, replaces Croatian coach Otto Baric who resigned in November after two dismal performances against Belarus and Romania in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.
