The Unfinished EU: Western Balkan Integration as a Geostrategic Necessity

The Unfinished EU: Western Balkan Integration as a Geostrategic Necessity

By Tanja Fajon, Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Affairs of Slovenia, Alexander Schallenberg, Minister of European and International Affairs of Austria, Gordan Radman Grlic, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia In her 2023 State of the Union address, European

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Op/ed: Nuclear energy still a long-term option for Albania

Op/ed: Nuclear energy still a long-term option for Albania

By Dr Valentina Dedi*, Lead Economic Advisor, Consulting International, KBR Today’s focus on climate commitments, while ensuring energy security and affordability, seem to have created a new momentum for nuclear energy. The latest global developments, especially following Russia’s invasion of

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Analysis: Calls for unity grow as divided DP faces hard future 

Analysis: Calls for unity grow as divided DP faces hard future 

TIRANA, Sept. 4, 2023 – As Albania’s parliament convenes after summer vacation, the main opposition Democratic Party has shattered into three different factions, with the faction with a smaller voter and MP support being given the official mantle by the

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Editorial: Latest Tirana-Athens spat is bad for both Albania and Greece

Editorial: Latest Tirana-Athens spat is bad for both Albania and Greece

TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL A wave of political commentary and debate has recently erupted in Albania, especially coming from sources that are always ready to declare Greece an enemy of Albania. Unfortunately, these pseudo-patriotic and pseudo-nationalist commentators often dominate the public

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Analysis: Continued detention of elected mayor strains Albanian-Greek relations

Analysis: Continued detention of elected mayor strains Albanian-Greek relations

TIRANA, Aug. 16, 2023 — The arrest and three-month-long pretrial detention of Fredi Beleri, the elected mayor of Himara, a coastal town in southwestern Albania, has ignited a diplomatic row between Albania and Greece and has prompted scrutiny on political

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Op/Ed: The Beleri case as bellwether for democracy in Albania

Op/Ed: The Beleri case as bellwether for democracy in Albania

By GENC POLLO The standard definition of a political prisoner is “someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner’s detention”. If it still holds Albania might have gotten one. Fredi

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Open Letter: Balance and proportionality must return in dealing with Kosovo and Serbia

Open Letter: Balance and proportionality must return in dealing with Kosovo and Serbia

Several key U.S. and European lawmakers have sent an open letter requesting changes to the current international approach to the Kosovo-Serbia crisis. Tirana Times is publishing its full text below:  To: Miroslav Lajč ák  Special Representative to the Western Balkans 

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Op/Ed: NATO Summit in Vilnius: Full of Drama, but Few Surprises

Op/Ed: NATO Summit in Vilnius: Full of Drama, but Few Surprises

By JONATHAN TERRA Will anything that happened in Vilnius really matter in the foreseeable future? After all, in terms of diplomatic and material support, training, logistics, intel-sharing, and coordinated strategic goals, Ukraine is already a de facto member of the

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Op/Ed: Remembering the Srebrenica Genocide

Op/Ed: Remembering the Srebrenica Genocide

by George Monastiriakos In 1993, one year into the Bosnian War, the United Nations declared “safe areas” in the Muslim enclaves of Republika Srpska to protect Bosniak refugees fleeing from the violence. Security Council Resolution 819 designated the city of

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Op/Ed: The sacrifice of a spotless shirt

Op/Ed: The sacrifice of a spotless shirt

By DEMUSH SHASHA While 20 seconds of Ambassador Hill’s tweets shatter 20 years of illusion in Kosovo, they are also useful starting points for reassessing our way forward. Our way forward is the quagmire, where Kurti’s political clean shirt must

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