Albania

Student-led protests continued in Albania for a sixth day with continued demands for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign. Despite those calls, Rama is refusing to step down, saying the demonstrations were not a threat to government but rather a threat to Albania's ambition of accession to the European Union.

On September 30th, the European Commission is expected to unveil a comprehensive document on EU enlargement, which will be used as a basis for discussion by the European Council in October. The paper is likely to confirm that Montenegro and Albania could finish negotiations soon. But it should also propose ideas on how other countries in the region without this perspective can move forward in their own EU accession journeys.

Several thousand people have been protesting since May 30 against large-scale projects that many Albanians consider a symbol of the prime minister's excesses ever since he came to power in 2013.

Albania’s EU membership bid has hit a new bump in the road over a luxury coastal resort project linked to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Protests, riots, property disputes and an anti-corruption probe in a predominantly Greek-speaking region have turned the tourism development into an added complication for Tirana’s longstanding efforts to join the EU.

Prime Minister’s Edi Rama has strongly criticised the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime, SPAK, after it sought the arrest of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure Belinda Balluku, the highest public official ever charged so far. 

As Albania begins its last cluster of topics in its EU accession talks in Brussels – only one year after starting negotiations – Prime Minister Edi Rama expresses pride in his country's achievement.

Ruling Socialists push for new elections in Tirana as jailed mayor tries to block the move, claiming his dismissal is in breach of his constitutional rights.

Rama announces new cabinet and calls fresh elections for the Tirana mayoralty – seven months after Mayor Erion Veliaj was arrested on charges of corruption and money-laundering. 

A leaked internal document from the Council of the European Union voices disquiet over 'undue pressure' on justice system and warns that Albania will not be able to close any accession chapters until it makes clear progress. 

After Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party won a record fourth term in office with a big majority, opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha said he would refuse to accept the results and announced a street protest.