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Highway opens up Albania for Kosovars
Më 26/06/2009 në 13:10News in English Komentet (0)Shto një koment
Highway opens up Albania for Kosovars

By Kerin Hope in Tirana and Neil MacDonald in Belgrade

Published: June 25 2009 01:46 | Last updated: June 25 2009 01:46

A spectacular 61km section of highway through mountainous northern Albania opens on Thursday, creating a strategic link with fellow ethnic Albanians in landlocked Kosovo. For Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia last year, the modern four-lane route is a vital commercial link through a friendly country.

At more than €600m (£510m, $840m) the new stretch of road will cut the eight-hour journey between Tirana and Pristina by at least two hours, according to Ernest Noka, Albania’s deputy transport minister.

Lexo në vijim ...
nga M.Daci - tags : Tirana, Prishtina, Durres, Kukes, Prizren, Albania, Kosova, Reshen-Kalimash, Financial Times, Kerin Hope, Neil MacDonald
Hero's welcome for Biden in Kosovo
Më 21/05/2009 në 19:24News in English Komentet (0)Shto një koment
Hero's welcome for Biden in Kosovo

By Ismet Hajdari

Agence France-Presse

May 21, 2009 10:27pm

US Vice President Joe Biden received a hero's welcome today as one of the highest-level officials yet to visit Kosovo since its disputed declaration of independence from Serbia last year.

"Kosovo's independence was the only viable option for stability in the region," Mr Biden told a special sitting of the Kosovo parliament in Pristina.

"Your independence is irreversible," he said in a speech that received several standing ovations from the ethnic Albanian-dominated assembly.

"The success of an independent Kosovo is a priority for our administration and our country."

Cheered on by a huge crowd, Mr Biden's motorcade had made its way towards the parliament along streets lined by billboards declaring: "Welcome and thank you."

The US vice president is considered one of Washington's strongest advocates of the independence of ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo, which declared its secession from Serbia in February last year.

Coming after trips to Bosnia and Serbia, Mr Biden's visit to Kosovo is his final stop on a tour to demonstrate fresh US engagement in Europe and the volatile Balkan region

Earlier, after meeting with President Fatmir Sejdui, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and other leaders, Biden said Kosovo awarded him with "The Golden Medal of Freedom," the highest decoration in the Balkan territory.
"Thank you... for honouring me with this medal... I don't deserve it, but I received it on behalf of the United States," Mr Biden said.
Local media hailed the visit of Biden, one of the strongest supporters of Kosovo's independence when he served as a senator in the late 1990s.

"Mr Biden is one of the few politicians in the world that has long believed in the independence of Kosovo. For his contribution to changing our destiny, Biden is our man," the Express daily said in a commentary.
Kosovo's decision to split from Serbia on February 17, 2008 is strongly opposed by Belgrade and Serbs, who number little more than 100,000 in the disputed territory of two million inhabitants.
Following his speech, Mr Biden was flown by helicopter to the Serbian Orthodox Church's Decani monastery, a 14th-century UNESCO-listed heritage site located in an enclave of southwestern Kosovo.
The Serb minority, who consider Kosovo the medieval heartland of Serbia, plan to stage an anti-US protest in their northern stronghold of the tense, ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
In Belgrade, Biden offered Serbia's pro-Western government a clean slate in relations tarnished by the Kosovo dispute, saying Washington does not expect Serbia to recognise its breakaway southern province.
"The United States does not, I emphasise, does not expect Serbia to recognise the independence of Kosovo," Mr Biden told a joint media conference with Serbian President Boris Tadic.
In Bosnia a day earlier, however, he stressed Washington's decision to recognise Kosovo would not be reviewed by the four-month-old administration of US President Barack Obama.
"This independence, while young, is irreversible, and critically important to this region's stability and progress," he said in a speech to Bosnian lawmakers.
US warplanes took part in NATO's 1999 bombing of Serbia to end a violent crackdown on separatist Kosovo Albanian rebels by forces loyal to late president Slobodan Milosevic.

{ News.com.au }
nga M.Daci - tags : USA, Kosovo, Kosova, Obama, Joe Biden, Independence of Kosova,
Positive growth forecast for Albania
Më 15/05/2009 në 13:22News in English Komentet (0)Shto një koment
Positive growth forecast for Albania

By Kerin Hope in Athens

Published: May 14 2009

Albania appears an unlikely bright spot on Europe's gloomy economic map, with international institutions still forecasting positive growth of about 1.2 per cent this year, writes Kerin Hope in Athens.

While its cash-strapped Balkan neighbours seek emergency finance from the International Monetary Fund, Europe's secondpoorest country, after Moldova, secured a €250m ($340m, £224m) medium-term commercial loan last month, arranged by Deutsche Bank and Alpha Bank of Greece.

The funding allows the right-of-centre government of Sali Berisha, prime minister, to complete an upgrade of the main highway to Kosovo - a key infrastructure project.

Ardian Fullani, the central bank governor, told the Financial Times yesterday that the international loan had given a boost to Albania's credibility with investors abroad and helped sustain liquidity in the domestic bond market. "We are weathering the crisis with less pain than others. Demand is still there and the budget [deficit] is under control," he said.

Credit expansion is set to slow this year from 36 per cent to about 15 per cent, "which is healthy in these times", Mr Fullani said. Austrian, Italian and Greek bank subsidiaries that control more than 70 per cent of assets "are well-capitalised, profitable and have performed strongly in a series of stress tests that we started last year," he said.

While Albania may benefit from being overlooked - it lacks a sovereign credit rating - it has not escaped the impact of the downturn.

"It's faring better than others, but this year's projection still marks a dramatic decline after years of growth at 6 to 7 per cent," said Jens Bastian, an economist at Eliamep, an Athens-based think-tank.

Exports of chrome and copper ore are slowing, along with remittances from migrant workers, which were flat last year at about €1bn. Yet investors are still showing interest. Tirana recently signed energy projects worth more than €3bn with Italian, Austrian and Norwegian companies to end a chronic electricity shortage and make Albania a regional exporter.

"We think Albania can become an important regional trade hub," said Philip George of Zumax, a Swiss-based company bidding for a €400m concession to modernise the port of Vlora.

Mr Fullani said the government that emerged from June's parliamentary election would seek a new arrangement with the IMF in order to maintain foreign investor confidence - "not funding but technical assistance for more structural reform".

Copyright - The Financial Times Limited 2009

nga M.Daci - tags : albania, albanie, Europe
Welcome Albania
Më 29/04/2009 në 15:43News in English Komentet (0)Shto një koment
Welcome Albania

April 28 2009

With the European Union buffeted by economic crisis, constitutional arguments and worries about relations with Russia, it would be easy for its leaders to overlook the formal EU membership bid from little Albania. Easy but wrong. The Union’s eastward enlargement is among its greatest successes; it must be enhanced by embracing the fragile states of the western Balkans, including Albania.

Tirana’s move comes just days after EU states accepted an entry application from neighbouring Montenegro. Albania may have to wait a few months for a go-ahead as Brussels will quite rightly wish to see that the June parliamentary election takes place in line with EU standards. But barring mishaps both countries should soon begin the arduous business of multi-year entry negotiations.

All this is welcome: Brussels must keep enlargement moving at a time when it faces serious obstacles.

Turkey and Croatia, the two countries now in membership talks, have run into difficulties. With Turkey, there is a fundamental lack of EU political will that has generated disenchantment in Ankara. With Croatia, the main problem is a petty border dispute with Slovenia, over which Ljubljana is needlessly blocking Zagreb’s progress.

The four remaining western Balkans territories – Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Kosovo – all face challenges before they can even start entry talks. Serbia must capture Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime general wanted for genocide; Bosnia must show greater cohesion among its divided ethnic communities; Macedonia must settle a name dispute with Greece; and Kosovo must win greater recognition of its independence.

All the would-be members, not least Albania, must also do more to fight crime and corruption. It will not be easy – but it would be even harder without EU membership prospects.

Meanwhile, the EU must put its house in order. The Lisbon treaty must win approval in the repeat Irish referendum this year. Otherwise, there will be no legal room for new entrants, except Croatia. The EU should also generate more public backing for the Balkan enlargement. It must be sold as a modest rounding-out of the 2004-07 enlargement, as it brings in states already surrounded by EU members.

It is a hard sell in an economic crisis. But it should not be impossible. The western Balkans have since the Yugoslav wars been largely the EU’s responsibility. Preparing the region for accession is the only rational way of finishing the job of securing its peace and prosperity.

©
nga M.Daci - tags : Financial Times, Albania,
USAID, 4th Judicial Reform Index for Albania Released
Më 11/04/2009 në 17:40News in English Komentet (0)Shto një koment
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USAID, 4th Judicial Reform Index for Albania Released

Tirana, April 10, 2009 The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), with support from the U.S. Mission through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), released today the 4TH Judicial Reform Index for Albania, at an event at the Magistrates School in Tirana.

“A strong judiciary is the key to Albania’s long-term success,” said USAID’s Mission Director to Albania, Roberta Mahoney in remarks at the ceremony. “The United States Government is firmly committed to the development of an effective, impartial and democratic judicial system in Albania.”
Mahoney urged legal professionals to use this assessment to build a transparent and fair judicial system comprised of professionals guided by principles of integrity and independence. She also underscored the importance of justice sector reforms to foreign direct investments and reforms in Albania’s public administration.

The Judicial Reform Index (JRI) is an assessment tool implemented by ABA ROLI in order to assess a cross-section of factors important to judicial reform in emerging democracies. The JRI is designed to help international organizations, donors, and local partners to better target judicial reform programs by creating a quantifiable measure of their impact. It also functions as a tool to refine program implementation and monitor progress towards establishing an accountable, effective, and independent judiciary in the country.

The JRI for Albania examines Albania’s judiciary through a prism of thirty factors reflecting the most fundamental characteristics of successful judicial systems. The JRI explores such issues as judicial education, and qualifications and appointment procedures of judges; independence and transparency of judicial decisions and judicial powers; budgetary considerations and issues of compensation; maintenance of trial records; adequacy of court staff and facilities; access to laws and other legal information; and ethics; discipline; and self-government. ABA ROLI previously implemented JRIs for Albania in 2001, 2004, and 2006.

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nga M.Daci - tags : ABA ROLI, USAID, ALBANIA, TIRANA, JUSTICE
Ceremony marks the accession of Albania and Croatia to NATO
Më 07/04/2009 në 13:29News in English Komentet (0)Shto një koment
Ceremony marks the accession of Albania and Croatia to NATO

On 7 April a ceremony was held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels to mark the accession of Albania and Croatia to the Alliance. The two countries’ flags were raised in the presence of Prime Minister Sali Berisha of Albania and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader of Croatia.

NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and the Permanent Representatives of the 26 Allies welcomed the two Prime Ministers and their delegations.

“The accession of Albania and Croatia … is a testimony, not only to the appeal of our Alliance, but also to the vision and courage of it's founding fathers”, said NATO Secretary General. “[It] demonstrates that the idea of freedom is irresistible”, he added.

Albania and Croatia became NATO’s newest members on 1 April 2009, after depositing their instruments of accession with the US State Department in Washington. Both countries participated in their first Summit as full members of the Alliance in Strasbourg-Kehl on 3 and 4 April 2009.

Since 1949, NATO’s membership has increased from 12 to 28 countries through six rounds of enlargement.

nga M.Daci - tags : NATO, OTAN, ALBANIE, ALBANIA, Kryeministri