The prime minister of Albania, officially the prime minister of the Republic of Albania, is the head of government of Albania. The office of the prime minister is a core institution in the politics of Albania formed after the Albanian declaration of independence on 28 November 1912. Since that time, the nation has navigated a dynamic political evolution spanning distinct periods, encompassing a monarchy, a communist regime and the eventual democratic order. In 1912, Ismail Qemali was inaugurated as the first prime minister of Albania, guiding the nation toward sovereignty amidst the complex conditions in the Balkans. In 1944, Enver Hoxha implemented a radical change in government, transforming Albania into an authoritarian and isolationist communist regime. In 1991, the nation transitioned into a democracy that marked a notable shift, when Fatos Nano emerged as the first post-communist prime minister of Albania.
Edi Rama is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and incumbent Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He was appointed Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1998, an office he held until 2000. First elected mayor of Tirana in 2000, he was reelected in 2003 and 2007.
The European Union (EU) has expanded a number of times throughout its history by way of the accession of new member states to the Union. To join the EU, a state needs to fulfil economic and political conditions called the Copenhagen criteria, which require a stable democratic government that respects the rule of law, and its corresponding freedoms and institutions. According to the Maastricht Treaty, each current member state and the European Parliament must agree to any enlargement. The process of enlargement is sometimes referred to as European integration. This term is also used to refer to the intensification of co-operation between EU member states as national governments allow for the gradual harmonisation of national laws.
The Socialist Party of Albania is a social-democratic political party in Albania. It has been described as centre-left. It was founded on 13 June 1991. The PS is an associate of the Party of European Socialists and a member of the Socialist International, and holds pro-European views.
The European Union and Georgia have maintained relations since 1992, following an agreement between the former European Community and the newly independent Georgia. In 2006, a five-year "Action Plan" of rapprochement was implemented in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). In 2009, relations between the two were further upgraded under the auspices of Eastern Partnership. In 2016, a comprehensive Association Agreement between the EU and Georgia went into force, providing Georgian citizens with visa-free travel to the EU, as well as access to some sectors of the European Single Market. Following Brexit, most of the existing EU-Georgia agreements applicable to the United Kingdom were renegotiated and agreed upon in 2019 bilaterally with the United Kingdom.
Albania is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the European Union (EU). It applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009, and has since June 2014 been an official candidate for accession. The Council of the European Union decided in March 2020 to open accession negotiations with Albania.
The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union is the stated aim of the present relations between the two entities. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been recognised by the EU as a "candidate country" for accession since the decision of the European Council in 2022 and is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU. Bosnia and Herzegovina takes part in the Stabilisation and Association Process and trade relations are regulated by an Interim Agreement.
The accession of Kosovo to the European Union (EU) is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU. Kosovo is currently recognized by the EU as a potential candidate for accession.
Albania-Greece relations are diplomatic relations between Albania and Greece. They are impacted by the presence of Albanian immigrants in Greece, the Greek minority in Albania, historical and cultural ties, and the high-level contacts between the governments of Albania and Greece.
There are nine recognised candidates for membership of the European Union: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Kosovo formally submitted its application for membership in 2022 and is considered a potential candidate by the European Union.
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 accession of North Macedonia to the European Union has been on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU since 2005, when it became an official candidate for accession. The Republic of Macedonia submitted its membership application in 2004, thirteen years after its independence from Yugoslavia. It is one of nine current EU candidate countries, together with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.
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.
Ditmir Bushati is an Albanian politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2019. He previously chaired the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration.
On 28 February 2022, four days after it was invaded by Russia, Ukraine applied for membership of the European Union (EU). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested immediate admission under a "new special procedure", and the presidents of eight EU states called for an accelerated accession process. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated that she supports Ukrainian accession, but that the process would take time. On 10 March 2022, the Council of the European Union asked the commission for its opinion on the application. On 8 April 2022, von der Leyen presented Zelenskyy with a legislative questionnaire, which Ukraine responded to on 9 May.
Conference of Western Balkan States was a 28 August 2014 conference of heads of states and governments of Western Balkans region initiated by German chancellor Angela Merkel. An idea for organization of conference came in light of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I. It is the first conference in this framework and organizers expressed their desire to continue it in future with Vienna and Paris mentioned as a potential next hosts after Berlin. Günther Oettinger confirmed at conference that event will be organised annually with Vienna as a host city in 2015 and Paris in 2016.
In May 2015, protests occurred in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, against the incumbent Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his government. Protests began following charges being brought up against Zoran Zaev, the Social Democratic opposition leader, who responded by alleging that Gruevski had 20,000 Macedonian officials and other figures wiretapped, and covered up the murder of a young man by a police officer in 2011. A protest with up to 2,000 attendees occurred on May 5, seeing clashes between activists and police.
The 2017 Albanian opposition protests were a series of anti-government protests, largely in Tirana, which centered around poverty, corruption, the illicit drug situation in Albania, fear of electoral fraud in the parliamentary elections, and alleged manipulation of the voting process by the government.
Starting from 16 February 2019, the opposition parties organized a series of protests and rallies against the government to demand new elections and the formation of a technocrat government that would ensure the fairness of the electoral process, citing electoral fraud and corruption in the government as the main reasons for the need for change.
The third Government of Prime Minister Edi Rama is the 67th ruling Government of the Republic of Albania which was officially mandated by President Ilir Meta on 18 September 2021. Following the 2021 election, the Socialist Party won for the third consecutive time a majority of seats to Parliament and also for the second time in a row the right to form a government without the help of coalitions.
