Albania

Fredi Beleri won a mayoral election in Albania in May last year but was put on trial for vote-buying, souring relations between Tirana and Athens.

Romanian politicians mull social media restrictions; Turkey, Croatia, and other countries face surges in digital rights violations ahead of elections, while the rest of the region is shaken by misinformation on a missing girl in Serbia and phishing attempts.

An interactive exhibition at the infamous communist labour camp and prison in Spac has brought visitors closer to the experiences of those who survived it.

Ruling Socialists voted against sending the issue of the immunity of the ex-minister to the Constitutional Court, as the Court had demanded.

Work has started in Albania to build a reception centre and camp to receive migrants from Italy – but activists and locals in both countries remain highly critical of the plan.

Communications expert from Tirana tells BIRN that Britain must ensure returnees' 'dignity, safety, and respectful treatment', after a UK report said some Albanians returning voluntarily were kept waiting for weeks in detention.

HM chief inspector of prisons says detainees held unnecessarily despite volunteering for fast-track deportationAlbanians volunteering to be repatriated under a fast-track deportation deal are being detained unnecessarily for several weeks at taxpayers’ expense, the prisons watchdog has found.HM chief inspector of prisons also found that staff did not know […]

A major cyber attack on the online media outlet Citizens Channel by unknown perpetrators has raised fresh concerns about media freedom and access to independent information in Albania.

Two senior public officials in the Albanian capital, Tirana, stand accused of fixing state tenders to enrich a company they owned through front men.

Seven suspected migrants and an alleged people-smuggler were killed when the vehicle in which they were travelling crashed at high speed as the driver was trying to get away from the Albanian police.

Crossing borders has become safer for Albanians, but many still are haunted by the new, less visible, frontiers of a capitalist and racist Europe.

Blerina Bala was elected caretaker mayor of Himara by the municipal council after previous acting mayor Jorgo Goro resigned following his arrest for alleged corruption and election-winner Fredi Beleri was convicted of vote-buying.

Authorities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia are failing in the fight against illegal landfills; the environment and the public are paying the price.

Jorgo Goro, who became acting mayor of Himara municipality amid a diplomatic row between Albania and Greece over his election rival’s arrest, was ordered into detention on suspicion that he transferred state land to private individuals.

Public institutions faced cyberattacks as countries battled misinformation amid political crises in the region.

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama declined to answer questions from journalist Ambrozia Meta and instead touched her face - a gesture condemned as intimidating by media rights organisations.

Opposition MP Gazmend Bardhi confirmed to BIRN that an agreement had been reached with the ruling Socialists that will enable them to return to normal work in the country's parliament.

In a high-profile anti-corruption case, prosecutors arrested Evis Berberi, General Director of the Albania Road Authority, after uncovering a scheme involving corruption and money laundering.

Campaigners say it is high time the 1.68 million Albanians living and working outside the country had a right to vote in the country's elections without having to travel home.

Too many municipalities in Albania lack shelters for domestic violence victims – which are needed to encourage victims to speak out.

The ruling Socialist Party and opposition Refoundation Democratic Party told BIRN they are nearing an agreement to end the ongoing disruption of parliament, but concerns have been raised that a deal could derail judicial reform and the fight against corruption.

Whether through compulsory military service or new hardware, some countries in southeast Europe are trying to bolster their defences in light of Russia’s war in Ukraine. But not all states can afford it.

Critics say the government is not doing enough to protect Albanian textile exporters from the rapidly strengthening lek currency. Most of the industry’s employees are women at risk of sliding into poverty.

Experts say leak of video showing fight between prince and ex-wife serves no public interest – and raises serious legal and ethical questions about standards of media in Albania.

A BIRN analysis of hundreds of videos uploaded by TikTok users in eight Balkan countries shows the platform has become a hub for abuse of women and girls based on their appearance and actual or perceived sexual behaviour - ‘slutshaming’.

A programme director at the Albanian public broadcaster RTSH was fired by the new head of the station, Alfred Peza, a former ruling party MP who has been criticised for other dismissals since he took the job.

After a high-profile trial that caused a diplomatic rift between Albania and Greece, the ethnic Greek mayor-elect of the Albanian town of Himara, Fredi Beleri, was sentenced to two years in prison for vote-buying.

The election of Bujar Spahiu as the new head of the Albanias an Muslim Community was marred by opponents’ allegations that he supports Turkish cleric Fetullah Gulen, who is wanted for arrest by the Ankara government.

Greek police working in the context of an international police operation arrested an Albanian citizen allegedly involved in four murders of Montenegro mafia members in Greece in 2020 – increasing the number of suspects behind bars in several countries.

Volodymyr Zelensky in Tirana urged Balkan countries to 'co-produce' arms and proposed a joint defence industry forum to be held in Kyiv or a Balkan capital.