Albania

TIRANA, July 1 (Reuters) - Albania is in talks with NATO to build a naval base at Porto Romano, a port under construction on its Adriatic coast, Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Friday.

Rama told a news conference that Porto Romano, situated close to the coastal town of Durres and intended as the country's biggest port, would have a commercial section as well as a military naval base.

The military base would be built and co-financed by NATO and Albania, he said.

12 April 2022; MEMO: Turkiye plays a critical security role for all of Europe, Albania's Prime Minister, Edi Rama said, and Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the report, Rama said Turkiye is not a "third actor", but a strategic partner of Albania, during a joint press conference with German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

"Especially with the defence industry, Turkiye plays a big role in the region," he said.

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday visited Albania to talk with Prime Minister Edi Rama on strengthening bilateral ties and also inaugurate new apartments funded by Turkey for Albanians left homeless by the 2019 earthquake.

Upon landing Erdogan immediately headed to the northwestern town of Lac, 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the capital Tirana, where Turkey has funded the building of a complex with 522 apartments at a cost of 42 million euros ($48 million).

TIRANA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Police fired tear gas and water cannon in Tirana on Saturday as stone-throwing protesters stormed into the headquarters of Albania's opposition Democratic Party in a deepening power struggle between party rivals.

At least one police officer and one protester were injured and dozens of protesters were arrested, police said. The protests were dispersed in the afternoon.

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s Assembly, or parliament, on Friday approved Cabinet dominated by women, aiming to bring the country back to economic growth focusing on tourism and agriculture, infrastructure and energy.

Following a 20-hour debate, the 140-seat parliament voted 77-53 for Prime Minister Edi Rama’s new Cabinet and program.

The left-wing Socialist Party secured a record third consecutive mandate in an April 25 parliamentary election, with 74 seats. The main opposition center-right Democratic Party got 59 seats.

TIRANA, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Germany and the European Union (EU) encourage the Western Balkan (WB) countries to strengthen their regional cooperation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said here on Tuesday.

"Germany has its own interest in the membership of the WB countries in the EU, but another cooperation at a regional level is an idea that has been accepted by the EU and Germany," Merkel told a joint press conference with Prime Minister Edi Rama during her official visit to Albania.

TIRANA, April 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama told supporters they had delivered his Socialist Party’s “most difficult but sweetest” election victory, as almost complete results suggested he had clinched a record third term in office.

The election commission said the Socialists were on course for 74 seats in the 140-seat parliament after Sunday’s vote, making Edi Rama the first Albanian leader to win three mandates.

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanians are voting in parliamentary elections on Sunday amid the virus pandemic and a bitter rivalry between the two largest political parties.

Some 3.6 million eligible voters, including Albanians overseas, will elect 140 lawmakers among some 1,800 candidates from 12 political parties or coalitions and those running independently. No early or postal voting is allowed. People infected with COVID-19 cannot vote.

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Kosovo’s president said Sunday he was going to The Hague to prove to prosecutors investigating war crimes allegedly committed during and after a 1998-1999 armed conflict in Kosovo between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbia that he had broken no international laws during the war.

Hashim Thaci spoke to private television Top Channel at the Mother Teresa Tirana International Airport before leaving for The Hague to be questioned by prosecutors on Monday.

TIRANA, Apr 5 (NNN-CNA) – Albania reported 29 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday (Apr 4), the highest daily number in a single day, as 2.8 million Albanians started a third 40-hour lock-down to break the contagion’s chain.

It now has a total of 333 cases and 18 deaths related to COVID-19.

As the map of infections widened, pictures of people milling around in an outdoor market ahead of the 1.00 p.m. lock-down prompted the government to impose stricter rules.