Parliament passes census law

TIRANA, June 29 – On Tuesday, the Albanian parliament passed a law with regard to the census in October. The new law was followed with the now-usual protests by supporters of the Red-And-Black Alliance who fear that asking Albanians to declare their ethnicity and origin will affect them negatively. Up to one million Albanians reside in Greece, hoping for a better life and work. Many of them claim Greek heritage and formally change their nationality to keep their jobs and also the Greek papers needed to stay there. The Alliance collected tens of thousands of signatures from around the country and abroad asking the parliament to cancel the two questions of the census on ethnicity and religion. It is still not clear how the parliament will proceed with the request for a referendum on the two issues.