EDI RAMA

Albania plans to make the Vjosa River and its tributaries the country's latest national park.

Albania’s parliament elected its top military official as the country’s new president.

Albania says former President Bujar Nishani has died at 55 following a serious health problem.

TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — Albania has offered NATO a naval base in an effort as a way to highlight the small country's value in the alliance “in these difficult times,” the prime minister's office said Thursday. “In these dangerous times I believe the general may consider having a NATO’s naval base in Albania,” Rama said in a speech Wednesday. The Pashaliman base located under the Vlora Bay was built in the 1950s when the Soviet Union brought 12 submarines, making it the only naval base they had in the Mediterranean. Following the breakdown of Tirana-Moscow ties in 1961, the Pashaliman remained as a naval base sheltering four remaining submarines and other small military ships. Pashaliman was renovated by Turkey and since has been used as a naval base for some military ships patrolling the Ionian and Adriatic Seas.

The office of Albania's prime minister says the country has offered to NATO a naval base in an effort to highlight the tiny country’s value in the alliance “in these difficult times."

TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — The leader of Albanian's main opposition party resigned Monday from the post following divisive infighting. Lulzim Basha said he had decided to resign as chairman of the Democratic Party “in order to assist in the resurrection and the unity of the Democrats.”Basha’s firing of former party leader Sali Berisha from the parliamentary group in September sparked an internal party fight between them. Berisha created a group seeking to remove Basha from the post, accusing him of being a “hostage” of Prime Minister Edi Rama of the left-wing Socialist Party. In January the center-right Democratic Party supporters clashed with each other as they tried to storm their party headquarters. Washington also has made it clear it would not cooperate with Albania's Democratic Party if it was led by Berisha.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has said the bloc would support the Western Balkan countries to overcome the economic crisis caused by Russia's war on Ukraine.

Albania Turkey In this photo provided by Turkish Presidency, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, right, shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in Tirana, Albania, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is visiting Albania to talk with Prime Minister Edi Rama on strengthening bilateral ties. (Turkish Presidency via AP) (Uncredited)TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — Albania and Turkey on Monday pledged to further boost their ties and increase their economic and cultural relations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Albania to talk with Prime Minister Edi Rama on strengthening bilateral ties and also inaugurate new apartments funded by Turkey for Albanians left homeless by the 2019 earthquake. “It wounds our nation that had its children martyred that FETO can still find areas of activity in friend and sibling Albania,” Erdogan said.

Albania and Turkey have pledged to further boost their ties and increase their economic and cultural relations.

Albania and Turkey on Monday pledged to further boost their ties and increase their economic and cultural relations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Albania to talk with Prime Minister Edi Rama on strengthening bilateral ties and also inaugurate new apartments funded by Turkey for Albanians left homeless by the 2019 earthquake. Upon landing Erdogan immediately headed to the northwestern town of Lac, 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the capital Tirana, where Turkey has funded the building of a complex with 522 apartments at a cost of 42 million euros ($48 million).

TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — The Albanian government said Tuesday that it would hire a U.S. company to bolster its cybersecurity following a large leak last month. The country and Virginia-based Jones Group International signed a memorandum of understanding in the Albanian capital of Tirana “on strengthening security of the digital systems," Prime Minister Edi Rama said. In December, the personal information of some 690,000 people, including identity card numbers and employment and salary data, was leaked from a government database of state and private employees. Four public and private officials were arrested, then released amid an ongoing investigation. Another leak of identity card records from a state database occurred ahead of Albania’s parliamentary elections in April.

Albania Opposition Protest Employees of Democrats' Party use a fire extinguisher against protesters who try to invade at the headquarters in Tirana, Albania, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022. Albanian opposition supporters have clashed with each other and tried to storm their party headquarters following an internal fight for the party leadership. Former leader Sali Berisha of the main opposition Democratic Party has created a grouping trying to remove the party leader Lulzim Basha from the post accusing him of being a "hostage" of Prime Minister Edi Rama. A group led by former party leader Sali Berisha used iron bars and hammers to break open the main doors of the building. He was reelected as a lawmaker for the Democratic Party in an April 2021 parliamentary election.

Albanian opposition supporters have clashed with each other and tried to storm their party headquarters following an internal fight for the party leadership. Former leader Sali Berisha of the main opposition Democratic Party has created a grouping trying to remove the party leader Lulzim Basha from the post accusing him of being a "hostage" of Prime Minister Edi Rama. A group led by former party leader Sali Berisha used iron bars and hammers to break open the main doors of the building. Police officers surrounded the party headquarters, and prosecutors started an investigation of the violent acts. He was reelected as a lawmaker for the Democratic Party in an April 2021 parliamentary election.

Police in Albania have intervened to disperse protesters from the headquarters of the country’s main opposition party.

Albania Western Balkans North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev speaks during a press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic after the "Open Balkan" initiative at the Palace of Brigades, Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Franc Zhurda) (Franc Zhurda)SKOPJE, North Macedonia — (AP) — North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev formally resigned Wednesday, in a move he had announced after his governing Social Democrat party's heavy defeat in October's local elections. North Macedonia’s parliament is expected to formally accept Zaev's resignation on Thursday. Zaev served as party leader since 2013 and as prime minister since 2016. He secured North Macedonia’s membership in NATO after ending a decades-long dispute with Greece over the country’s name.

North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has formally resigned, a move he had announced after his governing Social Democrat party’s heavy defeat in October’s local elections.

Leaders of the three countries convene regularly to promote their countries' political and economic ties along the path toward integration with the European Union. (AP Photo/Franc Zhurda) (Franc Zhurda)TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — The leaders of Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia met Tuesday to discuss and agree on furthering their Open Balkan initiative to promote political and economic ties. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama hosted the two-day meeting in the capital, Tirana, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. “We are here to build bridges, to build the future.”The three Western Balkan countries are at different stages on the path to EU membership. Three other Western Balkan countries — Bosnia, Kosovo and Montenegro — haven't joined the Open Balkan initiative.

The leaders of Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia have met in Tirana to discuss and agree on furthering their Open Balkan initiative to promote political and economic ties.

Albanian medical staff have launched a nationwide campaign taking medical teams door to door to convince unvaccinated people to get their shots against COVID-19.

European Union leaders will gather Wednesday for a summit on how to keep engaging with their Western Balkans neighbors, but the bloc’s once-successful enlargement policy faces an impasse.

“It is vital that Kosovo and Serbia normalize their relations,” she said at a news conference with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. “We understand it’s not only a question of license plates,” von der Leyen said. The EU, NATO and the U.S. have urged Kosovo and Serbia to exercise restraint and refrain from taking unilateral actions. Von der Leyen is visiting the six Balkan countries to assure their future is in the EU. The Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages on the EU membership path.

The head of the European Union’s executive branch has called on Kosovo and Serbia to resolve their disputes through the dialogue and deescalate the recent tension over license plates.

Albania's prime minister has complained about the delay in the launch of his country's membership negotiations with the European Union.

Albania New Government Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama speaks during a debate at the parliament in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Franc Zhurda) (Franc Zhurda)TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — Albania’s parliament was to vote late Thursday to approve the new, female-dominated cabinet of Prime Minister Edi Rama, with 12 of the 17 jobs going to women, making Albania a global leader in terms of the percentage of women in government positions. “This new government will enter history as the cabinet with the highest number of women,” Rama said in his speech. “With the confidence vote of the new cabinet Albania ranks in first place of the United Nation’s general classification for the number of women in the government,” he said. Even then, Albania had ranked in 5th position with 9 women in a 16-strong cabinet.

Albania’s parliament is to vote late Thursday to approve the new, female-dominated cabinet of Prime Minister Edi Rama, with 12 of the 17 jobs going to women, making Albania a global leader in terms of the percentage of women holding government positions.

Albania Germany Merkel German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a news conference with the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Merkel is on a farewell tour of the Western Balkans, as she announced in 2018 that she wouldn't seek a fifth term as Germany's Chancellor. “From the geo-strategic viewpoint, the EU, or concretely Germany, has its own interest in the membership of the (western Balkan) countries into the EU,” she said at a news conference. The western Balkan states — which include Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages on the EU membership path. “In the history of this region, Angela Merkel has set a milestone for decades to come,” said Prime Minister Edi Rama.

In her last trip in the western Balkans as a German chancellor, Angela Merkel visited Albania to urge the leaders of six western Balkan nations gathered there to strengthen their regional cooperation in their strive for European Union membership.

TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — Albanian police on Monday said they have arrested two people for allegedly hurling tear gas cannisters during a concert by a Bosnian Serb musician whom many in the country accuse of not condemning the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo. Bregovic didn't stop singing but the tear gas caused panic among some fans. Bregovic’s presence had sparked a nationalistic debate with some condemning him for not speaking out against Serb atrocities on ethnic Albanians in neighboring Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after the 1998-1999 war with Serb forces. The war ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign drove Serb troops out and a peacekeeping force moved in.

APTOPIX Afghanistan A U.S. Chinook helicopter flies near the U.S. Embassy, left, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. Helicopters are landing at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as diplomatic vehicles leave the compound amid the Taliban advanced on the Afghan capital. The men were offered food and temporary accommodation in Uzbekistan, and the ministry was in touch with Afghan officials regarding the return of Afghan soldiers to their home country. ___ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has closed the Torkham border point with Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the Afghan border facility, the interior minister said Sunday. — By Rahim Faiez___TREBON, Czech Republic — Czech leaders have approved a plan to evacuate Afghan staffers at the Czech embassy in Kabul.

APTOPIX Afghanistan A U.S. Chinook helicopter flies near the U.S. Embassy, left, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. Helicopters are landing at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as diplomatic vehicles leave the compound amid the Taliban advanced on the Afghan capital. ___ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has closed the Torkham border point with Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the Afghan border facility, the interior minister said Sunday. — By Rahim Faiez___TREBON, Czech Republic — Czech leaders have approved a plan to evacuate Afghan staffers at the Czech embassy in Kabul. Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar said the Czechs will help those Afghans who worked with Czech troops during their deployment in NATO missions.

TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — Albania is repatriating five Albanian women and 14 children from Syria's troubled Al Hol camp who were related to Albanians who joined Islamist extremist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq, the country's prime minister said Saturday. “The good news is the 14 children and five women (have been taken out) from the hell camp,” said Rama. This is the third effort repatriating Albanians from the fighting territories in Syria. A few hundred Albanian men joined the Islamic State and other groups fighting in Syria and Iraq in the early 2010s. Relatives in Albania say about 30 other Albanian children and women are in the Syrian camps.

Albania President FILE - In this file photo dated Wednesday, April 21, 2021, Albanian President Ilir Meta speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Tirana, Albania. Albania's parliament said Monday May 31, 2021, they will hold an extraordinary session on June 9 to debate and vote on the possible impeachment of the country’s president Meta for allegedly violating the constitution. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina, FILE) (Hektor Pustina)TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — The Albanian Parliament on Wednesday impeached President Ilir Meta for violating the constitution and discharged him from the post. The final approval comes from Albania’s Constitutional Court within three months. But if others join and lawmakers vote to remove him from office, the final approval would need to come from Albania’s Constitutional Court within three months.

The Albanian Parliament has impeached President Ilir Meta for violating the constitution and discharged him from the post.

TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — Albania's parliament on Monday decided to hold an extraordinary session next week on the impeachment of the country’s president for allegedly violating the constitution. A two-thirds majority is required to impeach Meta, and the Socialists don't have the numbers in parliament to meet that threshold. But if lawmakers do vote to remove him from office, the final approval comes from Albania’s Constitutional Court within three months. Meta argues that the outgoing assembly is in a post-election transition period and therefore is ineligible to conduct such investigation activities. Meta accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of running a “kleptocratic regime” and concentrating all legislative, administrative and judiciary powers in his hands.

Albania's parliament has decided to hold an extraordinary session next week on the impeachment of the country’s president for allegedly violating the constitution.

Albania President Albanian President Ilir Meta speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Albania’s president waded deep into the country's parliamentary election campaign Wednesday, accusing the left-wing government of running a “kleptocratic regime” and bungling its pandemic response. In an interview with The Associated Press, Ilir Meta also said he would step down if Prime Minister Edi Rama's Socialists — who are leading the main opposition conservatives in opinion polls — win Sunday's vote. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina) (Hektor Pustina)TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — Albania’s prime minister expressed his determination Monday to remove the president from his post, claiming he has embarrassed the country. Prime Minister Edi Rama said President Ilir Meta should be discharged.

Albania’s prime minister has expressed his determination to remove the president from his post, saying he has embarrassed the country.

Albania President Election FILE - In this Wednesday, April 21, 2021 file photo, Albanian President Ilir Meta speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Tirana, Albania. Albania’s president has accused the U.S. ambassador of intervening in the small European country’s internal affairs by supporting its prime minister in an upcoming parliamentary election. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina, File) (Hektor Pustina)TIRANA, Albania — (AP) — Albania’s governing left-wing Socialist Party legislators have started the impeachment process against the country’s president who they accuse of violating the constitution during the last election, their parliamentary group leader said Monday. Meta’s press office didn't respond immediately to a request for comment on the Socialists’ impeachment request on him. Meta started his political career with the Socialist Party, but later left it to form the smaller left-wing Socialist Movement for Integration, or LSI.

An Albania lawmaker says the governing left-wing Socialist Party legislators have started the impeachment process against the country’s president who they accuse of violating the constitution during the last election.

Lawmakers from Albania’s governing left-wing Socialist Party have started an impeachment process against the country’s president, who they accuse of violating the constitution during the last election, one of their leaders said Monday. Taulant Balla, the Socialist parliamentary group leader, said 50 Socialist lawmakers have asked parliament to launch an investigation after determining that President Ilir Meta “before and during the electoral campaign committed actions that run counter to the country’s constitution.” During the April 25 electoral campaign, Meta accused the left-wing government of Prime Minister Edi Rama of running a “kleptocratic regime” and bungling its pandemic response.

Albanian electoral officials say the left-wing Socialist Party has secured its third consecutive mandate in a parliamentary election, winning nearly one in two votes and enough seats in parliament to govern alone.

Preliminary results show that the ruling Socialist Party is ahead in Albania’s parliamentary election.

An exit poll for Albania's parliamentary election suggests the ruling Socialist Party is in a tight race with the opposition Democratic Party.

Albania’s president has accused the U.S. ambassador of intervening in the small European country’s internal affairs by supporting its prime minister in an upcoming parliamentary election.

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 16, 1997 file photo, Albanian Prime Minister Bashkim Fino shakes hands with OSCE representative Austrian Franz Vranitzky, in Tirana. Bashkim Fino, who was appointed prime minister to shepherd Albania out of almost total chaos 24 years ago when fraudulent investment schemes collapsed and angry crowds looted military installations nationwide, has died aged 58. Fino's family and his governing Socialist party said the former prime minister died Monday March 29, 2021 in hospital, where he had been treated for several days after contracting COVID-19. The former prime minister's family and his governing Socialist party said Fino died Monday in a hospital, where he had been treated for several days after contracting COVID-19. Fino was a trained economist and former mayor of Gjirokastra, 230 kilometers (140 miles) south of the capital, Tirana.

A man receives a dose of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Tirana, Albania, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Albania started a mass vaccination campaign trying to inoculate half a million people opening the way to a more relaxed incoming summer tourism season. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – Albania started a mass inoculation campaign Sunday ahead of the summer tourism season after acquiring 192,000 doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccine Sinovac earlier this week. AdEarlier this week, Prime Minister Edi Rama went to Turkey and brought back the 192,000 Sinovac doses. The remainder of the 500,000 Sinovac doses Albania is due to receive will come in two months.

Bulldozers are parked outside a building known to Albanians as the Pyramid in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. A pharaonic landmark in central Tirana built as a posthumous museum for Albanias communist-era strongman, Enver Hoxha, is being transformed into a youth training and art center. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama attended Thursdays symbolic start of work to radically transform the largely abandoned, 17,000-square-meter (180,000-square-foot) structure. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – A pharaonic landmark in central Tirana built as a posthumous museum for Albania's communist-era strongman, Enver Hoxha, is being transformed into a youth training and art center. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama attended Thursday's symbolic start of work to radically transform the largely abandoned, 17,000-square-meter (180,000-square-foot) structure.

TIRANA – Conservationist groups urged the Albanian government on Tuesday to rescind a decision to build a airport they say would seriously damage the country’s western wetlands. “Such an investment would bring about uncontrolled and unsustainable development models that would irreversibly damage the natural values and resources of the area,” the coalition of organizations said in a statement. The organizations said such construction violates a number of conventions ratified by Albania. A Vlore lawmaker appealed directly to Prime Minister Edi Rama to shut down the airport's construction because it would destroy the landscape and dislocate many animal species. The conservationist groups also warned of airplanes potentially sustaining bird strikes with “tragic consequences" because of the large number of fowl there.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks at a news conference in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. Turkey on Monday, Jan. 11 invited Greece to resume talks designed to reduce tensions between the neighbors, following this summer's dispute over maritime borders and energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Cavusoglu also extended an invitation to Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, for a meeting to discuss their troubled relations. “Today ... we want to extend an open invitation to Greece” Cavusoglu said. “We invite Greece to start exploratory talks, with the first meeting being held in January.”The foreign ministries of Turkey and Greece later issued separate statements saying the so-called exploratory talks would be held in Istanbul on Jan. 25.

Albanian prime minister Edi Rama receives the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Tirana, Albania, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Rama was among the first to take the COVID-19 vaccine which the country has received from an undisclosed European Union member country. The Prime Minister said he was "not authorized" to say which EU country had provided 975 vaccines. Prime Minister Edi Rama said he was “not authorized” to say which EU country had provided 975 doses to the Balkan nation. The vaccinations Albania gave Monday are sure to spark some envy in other Balkan countries.

(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada is making changes to its distribution plan for coronavirus vaccines in an effort to get shots into residents’ arms more quickly. Public health officials announced plans Monday to replace the state’s distribution plan and direct providers to concurrently vaccinate high-risk groups. State health officials report more than 13,000 coronavirus patients currently in hospitals statewide, and nearly 30,000 deaths since the pandemic started. ___ATLANTA — Georgia’s plan to expand access to the coronavirus vaccine for people over 65 is off to a rocky start. ___AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan has received its first shipment of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine before its vaccination drive kicks off this week.

North Macedonian epidemiologist Dragan Danilovski compared the current vaccine situation in the Western Balkans to the inequalities seen during the 1911 sinking of the Titanic. Serbia is the only Western Balkan nation to receive vaccine shots so far, getting deliveries from Pfizer-BioNTech and the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine. However, Serbia does not have enough doses to begin mass vaccinations, as only 25,000 shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 2,400 of the Russian vaccine have arrived. “Throughout the pandemic, the EU has shown that we treat the Western Balkans as privileged partners,” said EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi. “I trust (the Russian vaccine), I don’t trust the commercial narratives that are coming from the West,” Milorad Dodik, Bosnian Serb's leader, declared before he was hospitalized with coronavirus.

A protester holding a road sign makes his way with others during a protest rally in Tirana, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – Albanian police on Monday strongly warned demonstrators protesting over the fatal shooting of a man by police enforcing a coronavirus curfew to avoid illegal gatherings. Police mentioned “the concerning situation caused by the pandemic" in a statement, calling for everyone to respect lockdown measures set by health authorities. Scores of people have been arrested in five days of protests and almost 300 have been charged with holding an illegal protest during the pandemic, as well as with arson and public order breaches. Authorities say 28 police officers and at least four protesters have been injured in the clashes.

Albanian protesters run away from teargas during a protest rally in Tirana, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – Albanian demonstrators on Sunday kept up their daily protests over the fatal shooting of a man by police enforcing a coronavirus curfew. Later some hurled stones at the Tirana police station, where police responded with tear gas and water cannons. Albanians have defied a coronavirus ban on public gatherings and have clashed with police in recent days after Klodian Rasha was killed in Tirana amid a curfew early Tuesday. The U.S. and the European Union have urged Albania's political parties to exercise restraint amid the protests.

Albanian protesters run away from teargas during a protest rally in Tirana, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – Albanian police swiftly dispersed a smaller crowd of demonstrators Saturday as part of their ongoing protests this week after a fatal shooting by police enforcing a coronavirus curfew. In the nearby western port city of Durres, demonstrators concluded their protest with fist-bumping with officers in front of a police station. Albanian politics has been mired by infighting since the shooting, with Rama accusing opposition politicians, including President Ilir Meta, of inciting the violent protests. The U.S. and the European Union have called on Albanian political parties to exercise restraint.

Albanian police use a water cannon against protesters during clashes in Tirana, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Albanian protesters on Thursday renewed clashes with police over the fatal police shooting of a man during curfew hours despite the call from the authorities to respect a pandemic ban on public gatherings. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – Demonstrators clashed with police for a second day Thursday in the Albanian capital, Tirana, during a protest over this week's fatal police shooting of a man during curfew hours. In a televised address broadcast just as the protest started, Prime Minister Edi Rama apologized to the dead 25-year-old's parents, and the country's interior minister resigned over the shooting. A police statement said three alleged organizers of Wednesday's protest have been arrested, and another four people were freed after being charged.

A few hundred Albanian men are known to have joined terror groups in Syria and Iraq in the early 2010s, and now many of them are dead and their family members are stuck in Syria camps, but will be repatriated via Beirut to Albania. (Albanian Prime Minister's office via AP)TIRANA – Albania's prime minister said Monday that four children and a woman, all related to Albanian nationals who joined Islamist extremist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq, are being repatriated from a Syrian camp. A few hundred Albanian men joined the Islamic State and other groups fighting in Syria and Iraq in the early 2010s. Rama could not give the exact number of Albanian nationals in the camps. He added that Albanian nationals who took part in the fighting would face criminal prosecution if they are detained and repatriated.

Police in Belarus have dispersed protesters who gathered on the capital's central square, detaining dozens. Belarus authoritarian president of 26 years has faced weeks of protests since he was reelected to a sixth term on Aug. 9 with 80% of the vote. Asked whether the Belarus president will be hit by a travel ban and asset freeze, Petricek said he believes that Lukashenko should be on the list. Linkevicius said that we cannot exclude this invasion, and that the EU must also send a clear warning to Russia. For the country to move forward safely and as securely as possible will require mutual understanding and cooperation inside Belarus, Rama said.

Israeli Ambassador in Albania Noah Gal Gendler speaks during the inauguration of a memorial in Tirana , on Thursday, July 9, 2020. A memorial to the six million Jews murdered during the World War II and for the Albanians who protected them from the Nazis was inaugurated Thursday in the capital. (Xhulio Hajdari /Tirana City Hall via AP)

Israeli Ambassador in Albania Noah Gal Gendler speaks during the inauguration of a memorial in Tirana , on Thursday, July 9, 2020. A memorial to the six million Jews murdered during the World War II and for the Albanians who protected them from the Nazis was inaugurated Thursday in the capital. (Xhulio Hajdari /Tirana City Hall via AP)TIRANA Albania unveiled a Holocaust memorial in the capital on Thursday to honor the dead and the Albanians who protected Jews from the Nazis. Albanians protected their few hundred Jewish friends, and helped other Jews who fled from Germany and Austria by either smuggling them abroad or hiding them at home. A small Jewish community living in Albania left the ex-communist country for Israel just after the fall of the regime in 1991.

PRISTINA Albania's prime minister on Monday called the indictment of Kosovo's president and other former rebel fighters a shameful stain" on world justice. Ramas unannounced visit to Kosovo, which also has a predominantly ethnic Albanian population, was a signal of support from neighboring Albania. He tweeted that the indictment was a shameful stain of 21st century" world justice. Thacis indictment also disrupted a White House meeting between Kosovo and Serbia leaders initiated by U.S presidential envoy Richard Grenell, which would have been the first official talks between Serbia and Kosovo in 19 months. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Serbia refuses to recognize.

26, 2019, file photo, people walk past the National Theater of Albania in Tirana. Albania demolished its crumbling National Theater, which opened during World War II, above which sparked protests by artists, backed by the opposition, who wanted the theater to be renovated and condemned the $32.4 million price tag to build a new facility. (AP Photo/Gent Onuzi, File)TIRANA Albanian artists and opposition party supporters gathered for a second day Monday to protest authorities' demolition of the crumbling National Theater building in the capital, which has triggered strong political tension amid a major heritage debate. Artists and intellectuals addressed the crowd, denouncing the theater's demolition and pledging to continue protests until Rama's government is overthrown. Artists belonging to the Alliance for the Theater Protection had pressed for the renovation of the old theater building which they consider a national heritage.

CNN Video(CNN) - At least 37 people were injured on Saturday when a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Albania. The earthquake struck along Albania's central coast near the port city of Durrs, according to the United States Geological Survey, about 35 kilometers west of the capital Tirana. A trauma hospital in Tirana reported 37 injuries, according to public broadcaster Albanian Radio and TV. Prime Minister Edi Rama canceled a trip to New York, CNN affiliate A2 reported, and he's expected to return home from Frankfurt. The-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company.