For Tourism-Dependent Balkan States, Foreign Workers Fill Growing Gap
Tourism is a mainstay of the Croatian, Montenegrin and Albanian economies. But growing labour shortages mean hotels, restaurants and bars are increasingly looking abroad for staff. Original post Here
Share Your Experience: School Violence in South Eastern Europe
We would like to hear from parents, legal guardians, and teachers willing to share their experiences to help our upcoming investigation into school violence in Southeast Europe. Original post Here
Ruling Socialists Defeat Divided Opposition in Albanian Local Polls
Preliminary data from Albania’s Central Election Commission shows that the ruling Socialist Party is leading in the majority of municipalities in the country, including the capital Tirana. Original post Here
Opposition candidate wins Puka Municipality
Candidate of “Together We Win” coalition, Rrok Dodaj has won this Monday the May 14 local elections for Puka Municipality with 58.13%, against the Socialist Party’s (SP) candidate, Gjon Gjonaj with 41.87% Based on the published data, hope of the “Together We Win” coalition candidates to hold another term in …
Socialist Party leads in 54 municipalities from north to south, “Together We Win” is expected to win in 7 cities
A few hours have passed since the official start of the counting of votes to announce the new mayors from the May 14 elections. So far, the counting for the mayor has been completed in the Municipality of Kamza, in Elbasan and in Vorë, where the counting was done electronically, …
Ballot counting interrupted in Tirana’s number five unit
Counting of ballots has been stopped this Monday for several hours at the “Vasil Shanto” school in Tirana and is expected to start at 11:00. Halting of the process has come despite the order by Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Ilirjan Celibashi vote counters must continue working without …
Arrested opposition candidate wins Himara municipality
Candidate of the “Together We Win” coalition, Fredi Beleri has won the mandate of the mayor of Himara in the May 14 elections, although he was arrested on vote-rigging charges. According to the local media, Beleri won by a narrow margin to his Socialist Party (SP) opponent, Jorgo Goro. Meanwhile, …
Saranda, Belsh municipalities won by socialist candidates
Process of ballots’ counting has finished this Monday in the Municipality of Saranda and Belsh, where candidates of the Socialist Party have won over their opponents from the “Together We Win” coalition. Arif Tafani has secured the next mandate at the head of the city of Belsh with a very …
Socialist woman mayor elected in Klos municipality
Candidate of the Socialist Party (SP), Valbona Kola will be Mayor of Klos Municipality, where the ballot counting has been officially closed this Monday. Kola won the May 14 local elections with 4466 votes against the “Together We Win” coalition candidate, Bedri Hoxha who got 3499 votes. On the other …
Ruling Socialists head for sweeping victory of Albania’s administrative elections
TIRANA, May 15, 2023 – Albania’s ruling Socialist Party is projected to win 52 of the country’s 61 municipal elections, including every single large population center, as vote counting reaches its final stage. The Socialists are set to win the key races of the largest cities of Tirana and Durres, …
In a world that increasingly finds itself turned upside down, our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week tries to make sense of the past, present and future. Original post Here
Prime Minister Edi Rama presented 13 of his drawings at the premises of the Embassy of Italy in Berlin, as part of an event linked to his personal exhibition “Chrysalizing”, currently being held at Société Gallery. The exhibition also includes sculptures created by Rama, who has long been known for …
At a meeting held this Friday, the Working Group for amendments to the Statute of the Democratic Party of Albaniaapproved both the working methodology and a detailed calendar for the process of reviewing the party’s founding document. According to the decision taken, the process will extend throughout the month of …
International Workers’ Day was marked in Albania with a protest organized by the Union of Trade Unions of Albania in front of the Ministry of Economy of Albania. Participants held banners reading “A worker’s life is not a business cost” and “Wages to live, not to survive,” calling for better …
Former DP MP Ervin Salianji has reacted to the latest developments in the race for the leadership of the Democratic Party, expressing criticism over how the party is being managed under Sali Berisha. In a Facebook post, Salianji writes that Berisha shows a lack of responsibility, which could lead to …
A group of 50 parachutists from Italy have opened this year’s tourist season at the Gjirokastër aerodrome. The Italian parachutists performed jumps from an aircraft at an altitude of 3,000 meters, putting on a real spectacle for air sports enthusiasts. The activity was organized as a collaboration between Skydive Albania …
Albania remains the country with the highest risk of poverty in Europe. Despite efforts to develop the economy and increase income per capita, more than 40% of households in the country are deprived of several essential payments. In Albania, 44.5% of households with children and 37% of households without children …
With the increase in travel flows toward tourist and coastal areas, the Albanian State Police has stepped up controls across the country, using radars and drones to monitor road traffic. During the past week, more than 26,000 administrative measures were imposed for various traffic violations, ranging from not wearing seat …
The road vehicle market in Albania continues to expand steadily at the beginning of 2026, with the highest concentration in Tirana. According to data from INSTAT for the first quarter of 2026, the total number of road vehicles in circulation reached 1,068,000, marking a 9% increase compared to the same …
Albania has recorded an increase in employment, creating more jobs than a decade ago. However, many of these positions remain seasonal, insecure, and poorly paid, failing to keep pace with rising prices. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, around 13,800 new jobs were created, while the unemployment rate fell …