The Albanian Armed Forces are the military of Albania and were formed after the declaration of independence in 1912. Today, it consists of the General Staff, the Albanian Land Force, Albanian Air Force and the Albanian Naval Force.
Edi Rama is an Albanian politician and painter who has been serving as the 33rd and incumbent prime minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He was Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports from 1998 to 2000. First elected mayor of Tirana in 2000, he was reelected in 2003 and 2007.
The State Intelligence Service, commonly known by its acronym SHISH, is the main intelligence agency of Albania. It was preceded by SHIK.
The Loro Boriçi Stadium, previously known as Vojo Kushi Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Shkodër, Albania, which is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Vllaznia. The stadium has a capacity of around 16,000 seated.
The South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) was launched on Bulgaria's initiative in 1996. At the Bulgaria-chaired meeting in Sofia, the Southeast Europe (SEE) countries laid the foundations for regional co-operation for the purposes of creating an atmosphere of trust, good neighbourly relations and stability.
In 1991, the Socialist Party of Albania, with specific social democratic ideology took control of the country through democratic elections. One year later the Democratic Party of Albania won the new elections. After 1990, Albania has been seeking a closer relationship with the West. What followed were deliberate programs of economic and democratic reform, but the implementation of capitalism led to the proliferation of pyramid schemes. Chaos in late 1996 to early 1997, as a result of the collapse of these pyramid schemes, alarmed the world and prompted the influx of international peacekeeping forces. In 1995, Albania was accepted into the Council of Europe and requested membership in NATO and is a potential candidate country for accession to the European Union. The workforce of Albania has continued to emigrate to Western countries, especially Greece and Italy.
The establishment of diplomatic relations between Albania and the Soviet Union happened on April 7, 1924. Both countries were also allies in the Warsaw Pact. Albania has an embassy in Moscow. Russia has an embassy in Tirana.
Relations between Albania and Serbia have been complex and largely unfriendly due to a number of historical and political events.
The accession of Albania to NATO took place in 2009. Albania's relationship with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began in 1992 when it joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. In 1994, it entered NATO's Partnership for Peace, which began Albania's process of accession into the alliance. In 1999, the country received a Membership Action Plan (MAP). The country received an invitation to join at the 2008 Bucharest Summit and became a full member on April 1, 2009.
Fatmir Besimi is a Macedonian politician and economist of Albanian ethnicity. He currently served for Minister of Finance in North Macedonia, He also served twice as Minister of Economy then Minister of Defence and after that he was Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia in charge of European Affairs. In 2010 he was selected as one of the top European Ministers in the group of Young Global Leaders by World Economic Forum.
Arben Malaj has been Minister of Finance and Economy in the Republic of Albania different times from 1997 until 2005. He is known for transforming the Albanian economy into a European profile, after the hard social-economic crisis that this country passed during the year 1997. He served as a Member of the Albanian Parliament from 1997 to 2013 chairing the Parliamentary Committee on Economy and Finance.
Olta Xhaçka is an Albanian politician and Socialist Party member of Parliament. She served as the minister of Europe and foreign affairs from January 2021 to September 2023. She served as Albanian minister of social welfare and youth between March 2017 to August 2017 and as minister of defense from September 2017 to December 2020.
The 2018–2019 student protests in Albania were a series of street protests, demonstrations and online activism events held by the students of the public universities from December 2018 until February 2019, to oppose the high tuition fees. Students across Albania rallied against the moves that were made by the Albanian government to increase the cost of university education, by introducing new fees for exams. The fee comes on top of the dramatically risen university fees, which have failed to lead to any improvement in public education.
The Open Balkan is an economic and political zone of three member states in the Balkans, those being Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia. The zone has a total area of 131,935 km2 (50,940 sq mi) and an estimated total population of almost 12 million located in Central and Southern Europe. The official languages are Albanian, Macedonian and Serbian. Its administrative centres are the cities of Belgrade, Skopje and Tirana. With the establishment of the zone, all three member states aim to increase trade and cooperation as well as improve bilateral relations.
Frida Krifca is an Albanian politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Agliculture in the Rama III Cabinet since September 2021.
Delina Ibrahimaj is an Albanian politician serving as minister of state for entrepreneurship and business climate since September 2023. She previously served as the minister of finance and economy from September 2021 to September 2023.
Milva Ekonomi is an Albanian politician. She is currently serving as the Minister of State for Standards and Services in the Albanian government of Prime minister Edi Rama. She was appointed Minister of State for Standards and Services since September 10, 2021. She studied Statistics and Economics at the Agricultural University of Tirana, and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Tirana.
Linda Rama is an Albanian senior economist, researcher, university lecturer, women and children's rights advocate. She is currently the First Lady of Albania, spouse of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Igli Hasani is an Albanian high-ranking diplomat and security expert. Since September 2023 he holds the position of Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania in the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
The 2022 EU–Western Balkans summit was the fourth edition of the European Union–Western Balkans summit held on 6 December 2022 in Tirana, Albania. Hosted by the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, the summit brought together heads of state and government from the Western Balkan nations, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, alongside other EU representatives. Amid the setting of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, it underscored the union's commitment to strengthening its political, economic, and security cooperation with the region. Among the central themes of the discussions was the union's support for the region's integration, particularly through the alignment of the Western Balkans with EU standards. The Tirana Declaration, one of the summit's key results, reaffirmed the EU's dedication to the region's EU accession process, while highlighting the demand for political and institutional reforms and democratic principles.
