Albania

Pact hailed as EU migration breakthrough in tatters after judges rule asylum seekers must be transferred to ItalyA multimillion-dollar migration deal between Italy and Albania aimed at curbing arrivals was presented by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, as a new model for how to establish processing and detention centres for asylum […]

Far-right government angrily condemns ruling that seven men detained in Albania must be transferred to Italy Italian judges have ordered seven men detained in a migration hub in Albania to be transferred to Italy, in another blow to a controversial deal between the far-right Rome government and Tirana aimed at curbing the arrival of asylum seekers.The men […]

Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s new film Wolfs shows that while geopolitical realities have changed, western prejudice hasn’tI recently watched the new bro-flick Wolfs. In my defence: I was sick and therefore lacking in imagination. I didn’t fall for the Brad Pitt-George Clooney combo, though, doing proper bro stuff – walking around in leather […]

Judges’ decision on 12 men held in Italian migration hub in Albania also casts doubt on EU’s hardline plansThe last 12 asylum seekers being held in a new Italian migration hub in Albania must be transferred to Italy, a court has ruled, in a heavy blow to a controversial deal between the far-right Rome government and Tirana aimed at curbing migrant […]

Other leaders have expressed interest in Giorgia Meloni’s deal with Albania. But is it really a humane and effective strategy?There’s much interest in the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’sdeal with Albania tooffshore asylum procedures, which started this week, in an attempt to tackle the rise of irregular migration.Germany, which has announced […]

European Commission president cites Italy-Albania deal as possible model for reducing irregular arrivals to EuropeThe European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for an exploration of “return hubs” outside the EU in a letter to the bloc’s national leaders on irregular migration, citing a deal between Italy and Albania as a possible […]

Men from countries deemed safe are transferred to Albania to have asylum claims processed The first people to be intercepted at sea by the Italian navy under a controversial migration deal with Albania are on their way to the Balkan nation to have their asylum claims processed.As part of the pact signed off by Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia […]

Fears agreement will set dangerous EU precedent with up to 3,000 men a month held during asylum processingItaly has formally opened two centres in Albania where it plans to hold men who are intercepted in international waters while trying to cross from Africa to Europe.The Italian ambassador to Albania, Fabrizio Bucci, said the centres were ready to […]

Albanian police fired teargas to disperse protesters who hurled petrol bombs at government buildings and smashed city property in Tirana on 7 October. Demonstrators are demanding that the government be replaced by a technocratic caretaker until next year’s parliamentary election. The conservative opposition has long accused prime minister Edi Rama’s […]

Trattoria Meloni contains 70 portraits of Italian PM and is near site where arrivals to the EU are processedA restaurant dedicated to Giorgia Meloni has opened in the vicinity of a camp in Albania where the asylum claims of people who seek to enter the EU by sea will be processed as part of a controversial pact promoted by the Italian far-right prime […]

Annie Kelly reports from a conference in Albania where Afghan women have spoken publicly about the Taliban’s brutal crackdown on their freedomIn August, the Taliban published “vice and virtue” laws that banned women’s voices being heard in public. Weeks later, more than 130 women travelled to Tirana in Albania to attend the All Afghan Women summit […]

Britain’s prime minister knows such a plan won’t work. He’s cosying up with Giorgia Meloni for an entirely different reasonOne cold, late evening in the winter of 1999, I was waiting for a train at Termini station in Rome when I noticed an old lady struggling with her suitcases and offered to help. “Signorina,” her voice trembled ever so slightly. […]

The ex-president repeated the rightwing talking point during the debate with Harris, and now even Fox News is validating itExcuse me for a moment while I state the bleeding obvious: there is no state in the US where it is “OK” to kill a baby after it is born. That is homicide and there are one or two laws that frown on that sort of thing. Unless […]

Organisers of international summit hope to create pressure to reverse laws including a ban on women speaking in publicMore than 130 Afghan women have gathered in Albania at an All Afghan Women summit, in an attempt to develop a united voice representing the women and girls of Afghanistan in the fight against the ongoing assault on human rights by the […]

The days when Viktor Orbán could block negotiations on a whim should be over – and the western Balkans should finally benefit Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has revived EU expansion as an imperative. For years, “enlargement” has been a low priority – Croatia was the last country to join the club, more than 10 years ago. But things have changed. […]

Starmer’s warning | Beveridge redux | Enver Hoxha | OAP Oasis | AI advice Keir Starmer revealed his inner Tory when he told us that there is no alternative to his planned hair-shirt cuts (Starmer hints at tax rises as he warns of ‘painful’ budget, 27 August). Apparently his policy will be to grow the economy through cuts in public expenditure – the […]

Watchdog raises concerns about Home Office decision in annual report about incident last summerAn Albanian man who was being held in a secure psychiatric unit was taken directly from his hospital bed to a Home Office deportation flight, a report has revealed.The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB), a watchdog for prisons and immigration removal centres, has […]

Opposition protesters pelted Albania's government buildings and the mayor's office in the capital, Tirana, with petrol bombs, accusing state officials of involvement in organised crime and corruption after their leader was placed under house arrest. Thousands gathered in front of the government headquarters in Tirana as riot police officers cordoned off the […]

PM pays tribute to country’s best-known novelist as coffin is covered in national flag and flowersThousands of Albanians have gathered in Tirana to pay tribute to their country’s best-known novelist, Ismail Kadare, who died on Monday after a heart attack.Flags flew at half-mast as the 88-year-old writer and poet’s coffin lay in state in the entrance […]

The writer pays tribute to the late author, reflecting on how Kadare’s use of the ancient past to make sense of the present renders him essential readingIsmail Kadare, giant of Albanian literature, dies aged 88A life in quotes: Ismail KadareIsmail Kadare obituaryEvery morning, for the past few decades, unless he was travelling in his native Albania, […]