Sunday 10:56
The Examiner
Albania’s restraint is the conduct of a confident European state. It should not be mistaken for consent. Editorial Board On 20 August, in the square at Pustec, a formal standing line assembled for the opening of a Macedonian folklore festival: the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, beside him local officials, behind them …
Uncategorized
The head of government of the EU candidate country has just presented a show in Berlin of bronze sculptures created from 3D prints By Igor López — EL PAÍS Semanal, August 19, 2026 “Art is an attempt not to go mad, because politics can be madness. And the risk of becoming stupid is imminent …
Daily Briefing
Albania’s police found the suspect in five hours. Under Skënder Hita, they have spent the summer arresting police chiefs, suspending officers and stripping security licenses. The Principote case is the next test of that campaign. By Drizan Shala The video from Levan shows a car with foreign plates stopped on the roadside and a …
The Examiner
This weekend Edi Rama gathers his ministers for a retreat in Pogradec, armed with two strategic documents about the gap between power and the citizens. He himself appears in neither. This piece fills that absence, with a simple reminder: his legitimacy was born among Albanians, and only there can it be lost. by Albatros Rexhaj …
The Examiner
By Ylli Manjani, former Minister of Justice of Albania Translated from the Albanian original, published 14 August 2026. I cannot find a single genuinely successful political narrative from the opposition parties in all the time Edi Rama has governed. I say this not without pain, because for a long time I have wanted to find …
The Examiner
Russia has spent 148 years choosing Serbia at the expense of Albanians. Its own arithmetic no longer explains why. By Albatros Rexhaj (Tirana) Last week this publication published a letter to the Ambassador of Ukraine in Tirana. It concerned President Zelensky’s answer at the Belgrade press conference of 8 August, where, asked whether Serbia …
Daily Briefing
The Newsroom (Tirana) Albania has expressed deep concern over the statement by Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, on the possibility of changing the course of the Ibër (Ibar) river, with Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Ferit Hoxha warning that a transboundary watercourse cannot be altered unilaterally and that water cannot be used as an …
Daily Briefing
Albania has caught the eye of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. We meet prime minister Edi Rama as he attempts to head off protests against plans for a new kind of luxury tourism. Writer: Guy De Launey Photographer: James Mollison Edi Rama doesn’t seem thrilled when Monocle visits his office but that could have something …
Daily Briefing
The Newsroom (Tirana) Prime Minister Edi Rama presented a new internal party document to the Socialist Party leadership on Thursday, telling regional political directors and the chairs of the parliamentary committees that the party’s electoral machinery must undergo what he called a vital transformation and be saved “from itself.” The document, titled “Prania Besnike” …
Hard Talks
The euro has slipped below the number this magazine pressed the Economy Minister on a month ago. As the currency chart becomes the loudest exhibit in Albania’s dirty money argument, we turn the Hard Talks chair on our own economist and ask whether his arithmetic survives 92.4. by Besart Ruka (Tirana) Introduction The screenshot arrived on …
Hard Talks
Recorded in Tirana. Broadcast on Euronews Serbia, 14 July 2026. Editor’s note: This interview was recorded in Tirana days after the NATO summit in Ankara (7 and 8 July 2026) and broadcast on Euronews Serbia’s programme Direktno sa Minjom Miletić. The conversation was conducted in English and aired in Serbian translation; the transcript below is …
Hard Talks
The Economy Minister argues that Albania’s growth rests on tourism, investment and reform, not criminal capital. As the “narco-state” narrative spreads through European politics and media, we ask Delina Ibrahimaj whether the government’s numbers are finally strong enough—and transparent enough—to settle the argument. by Albatros Rexhaj (Tirana) Introduction There is a number in Albania …
Regional
Jasmin Mujanović mapped a region’s contradictions. Read backwards, they form something more dangerous: a method the world has seen before. By Ngadhnjim Brovina (Prishtina) On Friday the political scientist Jasmin Mujanović compressed the diplomacy of three theatres into a single post on X. We reproduce it in full, because its method is accumulation and …
Regional
Bulgaria’s relations with Albania and Kosovo are unusual in the Balkans. They are not burdened by territorial disputes, competing historical claims or a legacy of bilateral conflict. This gives Sofia, Tirana and Pristina political space for cooperation that is rare in the region. by Dimitar Keranov Bulgaria’s relations with Albania and Kosovo are unusual …
Regional
By Ferit Hoxha Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania. There are moments in history when the future of a country is determined by a single document. Such agreements are rare, but their impact is felt for generations. The Ohrid Framework Agreement is one of them. On 13 August 2001, …
