Blog
News

Q&A: Emigration is a regional issue and long-term effort is needed to address it, says Croatian Ambassador to Albania Zlatko Kramaric

Tirana Times interviews the Ambassador of Croatia to Albania, Zlatko Kramaric, on Croatia’s decade in the EU, relations with Albania and Western Balkans integration prospects. Q: Albania and Croatia enjoy a very good bilateral relation with collaboration in many fields. How do you find the relations at the moment of …

Read More
News

Albanian court rules Turkish crypto scam kingpin can be extradited to his homeland to face trial 

TIRANA, Apr. 18, 2022 – Albania’s High Court has court ruled to allow the extradition of Fatih Ozer to face a trial in his homeland of Turkey, where he is wanted for allegedly scamming nearly 400,000 people out of millions dollars through a cryptocurrency exchange.  Ozer was arrested last year …

Read More
News

Albania Economists Slate PM’s ‘New Salaries’ Pledge as ‘Unrealistic’

PM Rama’s promise to hike wages, starting in the public sector, has been deemed totally unrealistic by a range of economic experts. Original post Here

Read More
News

Confidence Tricks: Tirana’s Place in an International ‘Investment’ Scam

Fake ‘call centres’ across Albania were part of a lucrative stock market investment scam operating across Europe; the suspects include an Albanian man with significant political connections. Original post Here

Read More
News

Svetlana Timofeeva: ‘My Passion for Ruins Landed me in Albanian Prison’

Through a written interview from her cell in the Ali Demi prison in Tirana, the Russian blogger accused of espionage tells about her ill-fated adventure in Gramsh, her months spent in isolation – and her fear of possible extradition to Putin’s Russia. Original post Here

Read More
News

How Fear of Albanians Went Mainstream in 1990s Italy

The anti-Albanian campaigns in the British media today are all too reminiscent of the targeting of Albanians in Italy and Greece 30 years ago – and need to be fought, not indulged. Original post Here

Read More
News

Society for Albanian Studies calls for nominations for the annual Stavro Skendi Book Prize

TIRANA, April 12, 2023 – Nominations are being sought for the Stavro Skendi Book Prize for Achievement in Albanian Studies, the organization that governs the award said in a statement. Awarded by the Society for Albanian Studies  – an affiliate organization of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian …

Read More
News

Isolation is not a joke: Leaving the ICSID would be a bitter mistake

TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL Albania’s troubles with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) seem to be expanding well beyond the infamous case of settling over the closure of Agon Channel and the hefty fine of 120 million euros that the country has to pay up to Italian investor …

Read More
News

Albania to Honour Heroes Who Saved Jews from Holocaust

New museum will celebrate the Albanians who risked their lives to shield Jews from Nazi persecution – and whose story has remained largely untold. Original post Here

Read More
News

Faced with corruption and unpredictable tax system, top business associations demand comprehensive reforms

TIRANA, April 12, 2023 – Doing business in Albania is hard as the economic “environment is inefficient and requires significant improvement,” five chambers of commerce in Albania, including those representing American, German, French and Italian investors said in a joint statement issued on Tuesday.   To attract more foreign investment, they …

Read More
News
Protest in front of the Tirana municipality, EU delegation: We condemn the violence!

Regarding the protest held in front of the premises of the Tirana Municipality, the EU delegation also reacted. In the reaction on the X platform, the EU delegation states that it condemns the violence, also underlines that such acts have no place in a democratic society and have nothing to …

News
Vetting “burns” Agron Zhukri

The Independent Qualification Commission dismissed the Tirana judge, Agron Zhukri. Agron Zhukri is the judge who gave the seal of the Democratic Party to Sali Berisha. According to KPK, Zhukri has resulted in problems in the wealth criterion. “Zhukri has undergone the verification process regarding the property. According to the …

News
Threats of violence and sale of narcotics, two arrested in Tirana

The police of Tirana have arrested the 38-year-old after the Court of First Instance, of the General Jurisdiction of Tirana, assigned this citizen the security measure “Arrest in prison” for the criminal offense of “Extortion by means of threats or violence, for giving of wealth”, carried out in collaboration. Also, …

News
Shkodra Prosecution seizes 97 Vehicles, a company and property of the suspected for money laundry

Ahkodra Prosecution Office seized the assets of citizen Ago Gjolaj who is under investigation for commiting the criminal offense ‘Money Laundering of Criminal Proceeds or Criminal Activity’ as provided for in Article 287 of the Criminal Code. Upon reviewing the denunciation submitted by the General Directorate of State Police, it …

News
Albania out of the monitoring of the Council of Europe for human rights/ Nikolla: Reconfirmation of the consolidation of democracy

The Speaker of the Assembly, Lindita Nikolla, welcomes the decision of APKiE to remove Albania from the monitoring system. In a post on social networks, Nikolla says that this decision is a reaffirmation of the consolidation of democracy in Albania. Among other things, Nikolla thanks the delegation of the Assembly …

News
Missing of the 3-year-old in Durres, two people are arrested and two others are declared wanted

The work continues to find the 3-year-old, where according to the mother of the little boy, he was kidnapped by his grandparents. The blue uniforms indicate that the citizen Rexhep Gjuni, the 3-year-old’s grandfather, 60 years old, and the grandmother’s brother, Arben Selaj, 49, have been detained in connection with …

News
A 47 year old arrested for cultivating cannabis in Shkodra

A 47-year-old man was captured by the police after an operation against the production and trafficking of narcotics, cannabis. The coded operation “First step” has been finalized after an investigation of several weeks. While nearly 2 thousand cannabis seeds were seized. So the procedural materials were passed to the Prosecution …

News
A member of a criminal group, the 46-year-old man is arrested for the purpose of extradition in Italy

A 46-year-old member of a criminal group for heroin trafficking was arrested in Kavaja with the intention of extradition to Italy.  The Court of Catanzaro, Italy, in July 2023, assigned the security measure “Arrest in prison”, for the criminal offense “Participation in a criminal group, for the purpose of drug …

News
Annual report 2023/ Chief Prosecutor Olsian Çela: A very challenging year!

Chief Prosecutor Olsian Çela has reported to the High Prosecution Council regarding the annual report of the General Prosecution for 2023. “The year 2023 was a challenging year for the prosecutions of the general jurisdiction due to administrative and procedural issues related to the implementation of the new judicial map …

News
GJKKO submits for trial the file for the former mayor of the municipality of Durres, Vangjush Dako

The Special Court passed for trial the file in charge of the former mayor of the municipality of Durrës Vangjush Dakos and other former officials accused of abuse of office and falsification of documents. Dako was not present at Wednesday’s session, while he is accused of abuse of office in …

News

Protest in front of the Tirana municipality, EU delegation: We condemn the violence!

Regarding the protest held in front of the premises of the Tirana Municipality, the EU delegation also reacted. In the reaction on the X platform, the EU delegation states that it condemns the violence, also underlines that such acts have no place in a democratic society and have nothing to …

News

Vetting “burns” Agron Zhukri

The Independent Qualification Commission dismissed the Tirana judge, Agron Zhukri. Agron Zhukri is the judge who gave the seal of the Democratic Party to Sali Berisha. According to KPK, Zhukri has resulted in problems in the wealth criterion. “Zhukri has undergone the verification process regarding the property. According to the …

News

Threats of violence and sale of narcotics, two arrested in Tirana

The police of Tirana have arrested the 38-year-old after the Court of First Instance, of the General Jurisdiction of Tirana, assigned this citizen the security measure “Arrest in prison” for the criminal offense of “Extortion by means of threats or violence, for giving of wealth”, carried out in collaboration. Also, …

News

Shkodra Prosecution seizes 97 Vehicles, a company and property of the suspected for money laundry

Ahkodra Prosecution Office seized the assets of citizen Ago Gjolaj who is under investigation for commiting the criminal offense ‘Money Laundering of Criminal Proceeds or Criminal Activity’ as provided for in Article 287 of the Criminal Code. Upon reviewing the denunciation submitted by the General Directorate of State Police, it …

News

Albania out of the monitoring of the Council of Europe for human rights/ Nikolla: Reconfirmation of the consolidation of democracy

The Speaker of the Assembly, Lindita Nikolla, welcomes the decision of APKiE to remove Albania from the monitoring system. In a post on social networks, Nikolla says that this decision is a reaffirmation of the consolidation of democracy in Albania. Among other things, Nikolla thanks the delegation of the Assembly …

News

Missing of the 3-year-old in Durres, two people are arrested and two others are declared wanted

The work continues to find the 3-year-old, where according to the mother of the little boy, he was kidnapped by his grandparents. The blue uniforms indicate that the citizen Rexhep Gjuni, the 3-year-old’s grandfather, 60 years old, and the grandmother’s brother, Arben Selaj, 49, have been detained in connection with …

News

A 47 year old arrested for cultivating cannabis in Shkodra

A 47-year-old man was captured by the police after an operation against the production and trafficking of narcotics, cannabis. The coded operation “First step” has been finalized after an investigation of several weeks. While nearly 2 thousand cannabis seeds were seized. So the procedural materials were passed to the Prosecution …

News

A member of a criminal group, the 46-year-old man is arrested for the purpose of extradition in Italy

A 46-year-old member of a criminal group for heroin trafficking was arrested in Kavaja with the intention of extradition to Italy.  The Court of Catanzaro, Italy, in July 2023, assigned the security measure “Arrest in prison”, for the criminal offense “Participation in a criminal group, for the purpose of drug …

News

Annual report 2023/ Chief Prosecutor Olsian Çela: A very challenging year!

Chief Prosecutor Olsian Çela has reported to the High Prosecution Council regarding the annual report of the General Prosecution for 2023. “The year 2023 was a challenging year for the prosecutions of the general jurisdiction due to administrative and procedural issues related to the implementation of the new judicial map …

News

GJKKO submits for trial the file for the former mayor of the municipality of Durres, Vangjush Dako

The Special Court passed for trial the file in charge of the former mayor of the municipality of Durrës Vangjush Dakos and other former officials accused of abuse of office and falsification of documents. Dako was not present at Wednesday’s session, while he is accused of abuse of office in …