Tag: Albania

Greco-Albanians protest Trump-linked development scheme

AlbaniaProtesters clashed with security forces at the site of a planned luxury resort on Albania's Adriatic coast linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the daughter and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. The site, at Zvërnec, is one of the last nearly pristine coastal zones in the entire Mediterranean, and is located within Albania's southern Greek-speaking region. The project has raised serious concerns among local ethnic Greek residents over the loss of their traditional lands. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Meloni maneuvers to save offshore migrant camp plan

GjadërItaly's right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, issued a decree aimed at bypassing judicial obstacles to a controversial deal with Albania to hold and process the claims of asylum-seekers intercepted at sea by Italian forces. The move came days after a special immigration court in Rome ruled that the first group of 12 migrants sent to the repurposed military camp at Gjader, Albania, must be returned to Italy. The court found that the migrants' countries of origin—Egypt and Bangladesh—are "unsafe," making their offshore detention illegal. Meloni's decree asserts the executive alone has the power to make such determinations, setting the stage for a showdown between her government and the judiciary. (Photo: Melting Pot Europa)

Italy in deal to hold asylum-seekers in Albania

migrantsItaly and Albania announced an agreement that would see asylum-seekers intercepted at sea by Italian forces taken to Albania while their claims are processed. Italy is to pay for construction of two centers in Albania with the capacity to hold up to 3,000 migrants at a time. If Italy rejects the asylum bids, Albania would deport the migrants. Albania is also to provide external security for the two centers, which would be under Italian jurisdiction. Some experts question whether the plan is legal, and say it follows a worrying trend of European countries seeking to "externalize" migrant processing to third countries. (Photo: US Navy via Wikimedia Commons)

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Kosovo adopts laws allowing formation of army

KLAThe Parliament of Kosovo approved a package of bills that will allow Kosovo to form a military and defense ministry. All three bills—one establishing a Defense Ministry, one that converts the limited Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) into a professional army, and another that regulates service in the forces—garnered convincing majority votes in Kosovo's 120-seat legislature, with 101, 98 and 96 yes-votes respectively. Notably absent for the vote, however, were the Parliament’s ethnic Serb MPs. Serbia will seek an urgent session of the UN Security Council over Kosovo’s decision, holding that the adoption of these laws amounts to a violation of the Kosovar Constitution. (Photo of Kosova Liberation Army via IBNA)

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KLAThe Parliament of Kosovo approved a package of bills that will allow Kosovo to form a military and defense ministry. All three bills—one establishing a Defense Ministry, one that converts the limited Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) into a professional army, and another that regulates service in the forces—garnered convincing majority votes in Kosovo's 120-seat legislature, with 101, 98 and 96 yes-votes respectively. Notably absent for the vote, however, were the Parliament’s ethnic Serb MPs. Serbia will seek an urgent session of the UN Security Council over Kosovo’s decision, holding that the adoption of these laws amounts to a violation of the Kosovar Constitution. (Photo of Kosova Liberation Army via IBNA)