Alice Taylor Archives

Kosovo and Serbia have failed to agree on the issue of license plates, an issue that sparked unrest along the border in September 2021, after the deadline expired on Thursday, 21 April.

Albania imported 10,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia in March 2021, following the latter's invasion of Ukraine - an increase of 20% from the first quarter prior to the war, and an increase of 100% on last year's figures.

Labour shortages, rising fuel and food prices, and the Ukrainian war are the triple forces threatening the revival of Albania’s fledgling tourist industry, which accounts for over a quarter of GDP. Over the last few years, Albania has gone from something …

Two Kosovo police cars were attacked on Friday (15 April) with a hand grenade and an AK-47 near the border checkpoint with Serbia in the north of the country.

Albania could be a key player in Europe’s gas sector as US company Excelerate Energy Inc plans to use it as a way to deliver natural gas and natural gas products to the rest of the region, as the country also looks at increasing interconnectors amid the global energy crisis.

With just days to the Serbian presidential, parliamentary and partial local elections on Sunday (3 April), more than 6,020 citizens have found themselves removed from voter lists in a move activists and researchers say is because they are ethnic Albanians.

In a bid to battle rising fuel prices and quell disquiet from citizens, the Albanian government has announced that as of 3 April, every city in the country will have a car-free day on the first Sunday of the month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s impassioned plea for his besieged country to join the EU as soon as possible has met cautious support across Europe. But the Western Balkans - home to six membership hopefuls - have remained largely silent.

Albanians have been protesting for more than a week over price increases of food, fuel, and energy. The government, however, has called them a national shame and said their protests were serving Russia and the Kremlin - a claim activists have entirely dismissed.

As the sixth consecutive day of nationwide non-partisan protests against high taxes and government corruption took place in Tirana, Prime Minister Edi Rama has said an official in Brussels told him these protests are in favour of Russia.

Albanians should be ashamed as they are the only NATO member protesting the “consequences of war in Ukraine”, said Prime Minister Edi Rama as nationwide demonstrations continued for the fifth day. Citizens, however, say they are not protesting anything to do …

As the number of people fleeing Russia’s war in Ukraine surpasses two million, NGOs on the ground in border regions have sounded the alarm over refugees, overwhelmingly women and children, being trafficked and exploited by criminals.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti continues to make the case for NATO accession, given the ongoing war waged against Ukraine by Russia and potential regional instability, but NATO and some members remain resolute that for now, it is not on the table.

EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia should start immediately, and political issues with Bulgaria can be resolved as the chapters are opened, according to Metodija Koloski, president of the United Macedonian Diaspora.

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained the mental health of Europeans and suicide amongst young people is rising, but in a number of countries, national health authorities have provided only patchy responses so far, according to the EURACTIV network reporting.

Delays caused by the blocking of the Ocean Viking rescue ship by Italian port authorities have put human lives at stake, Julia Schaefermeyer, communications officer at SOS Mediterranean, the NGO that charters the vessel, has told EURACTIV.

President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday told ambassadors from the European Union that the bloc had not provided meaningful support in battling migration and that it had not reciprocated Turkey's efforts to improve relations.

The Albanian capital of Tirana was rocked by protests on Saturday (8 January) as one warring faction of the opposition Democratic Party (PD) used force to enter their own headquarters. Police special forces dispersed demonstrators, and several arrests were made.

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said he has personally ordered security forces to “open fire with lethal force” against protestors amid a violent uprising currently gripping the Central-Asian country.

Sweden's security strategy would be entirely undermined if NATO agreed to refrain from expanding further and curb some of its activity in Europe, as Russia has demanded, Sweden's top military commander told daily Dagens Nyheter.

Turkey is one of a handful of countries using charity and aid to raise its international profile and extend its influence to other countries, particularly in the Western Balkans, while struggling at home with poverty, lack of jobs, rising inflation, and increasingly authoritarian rule.

On Thursday, Russia sent paratroopers into Kazakhstan to quell a countrywide uprising after deadly violence spread across the tightly controlled former Soviet state.

From Paris to Podgorica, COVID-19 cases are surging across the continent in the wake of two weeks of festivities and exacerbated by the highly-infectious Omiron variant and challenges in national vaccination campaigns.

Russia test-fired around 10 new Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missiles from a frigate and two more from a submarine, Interfax news agency said on Friday.