Minister of Hajj and Umrah Begins Balkan Tour to Enhance Services for “Guests of God”

Tirana, October 26, 2024

Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Hajj and Umrah, has begun a four-day official visit to several Western Balkan countries, including Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. This visit is part of Saudi Arabia’s strategic efforts to strengthen cooperation with the Western Balkans and improve services for those wishing to perform Umrah.

During the visit, the minister will hold important meetings with senior officials, religious counterparts, civil society representatives, and community leaders to discuss ways to enhance services and streamline procedures related to pilgrims’ visits from the Balkans. The tour highlights the Kingdom’s commitment to direct collaboration with its counterparts in these countries.

This visit will focus on improving services for those seeking to visit the holy sites by leveraging new technologies and platforms, such as Nusuk, to facilitate procedures.

This initiative aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to increase the number of visitors and enrich their spiritual experience, guided by the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to fully support the “Guests of God.”

Original post Here

News
Probe Urged of ‘Unjustifiable’ Cost of Italy’s Migrant Camps in Albania

Anti-poverty NGO ActionAid has filed a complaint to the Court of Auditors in Italy over the 133 million euro cost of two migrant detention centres in Albania as part of a controversial asylum offshoring deal between Rome and Tirana. Original post Here

News
Saudi Embassy in Tirana Marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities

By Tirana Times Staff Tirana, 3 December 2025 — The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Albania today organized in Tirana the central event marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a broad awareness-raising activity that brought together around 250 children with disabilities from several cities across …

News
‘Hope Dies Last’: The Bosnian Wartime Sexual Violence Survivor Fighting for Justice

In the second of BIRN’s series about women’s wartime activism, Midheta Kaloper explains how she survived sexual violence during the Bosnian war and now helps other survivors to fight for their rights – and bring the perpetrators to justice. Original post Here