A Short History of Saimir Tahiri and the Habilaj Brothers – Exit Explains

Yesterday, the Guardia di Finanza of Catania arrested the members of an Albanian–Italian mafia group including 4 Italians and 3 Albanians, 4 others are still wanted. According to the Italian prosecution, the criminal group had trafficked over 3.5 tons of cannabis, guns and other weapons over the last few years, with a yearly profit of

Tension in Parliament, Insults and Accusations

Deputies of the PD and LSI requested today Speaker of Parliament to expel Prime Minister Edi Rama from the session after the latter uttered a series of insults addressed at PD deputy and former Prime Minister Sali Berisha. The tension in Parliament grew after Speaker Ruçi refused, in violation of the Parliamentary Regulations, to give the floor to PD

Evangelicals Take Over Gutted Ministry of Justice

With the confirmation of Teuta Vodo and Toni Gogu as Deputy Ministers of Justice, Prime Minister Edi Rama has handed over the Ministry of Justice to a team of people not only lacking serious experience in the judicial system, but also curiously explicit in their religious convictions. Already the nomination of political lightweight Etilda Gjonaj,

Donald Lu, With Edi Rama until the End

We believe that it is time that the Albanian government declares war on organized crime. This was the declaration of US Ambassador Donald Lu a few days ago during a speech at the School of the Magistrates. After the speech, the media for the most part widely covered Lu’s description of the state of crime

Co-governance with citizens — what kind of democracy under Edi Rama?

Only a few days after the formalization of his overwhelming victory on 25 June, Edi Rama announced the launch of a “new form of democracy” in Albania. For the triumphantly reestablished Prime Minister, the conditions were now ready “for people to be very close to the government.” With his absolute majority in Parliament, the leader of

What Ambassador Lu Doesn’t Know!

Yesterday the US Ambassador in Tirana spoke directly and harshly about a problem that has kept the public’s attention occupied for more than two weeks. He referred to organized crime and the empowerment that the latter gained of the last few years for multiple reasons, the main one being the tolerance of politics toward it,

The Opposition’s Challenge 2017–2021

The June 25 elections produced a clear result. The Socialist Party won 74 mandates, which enabled them to have a quiet prospect of ruling alone for the upcoming four years. Somewhat more complicated however is the situation for the opposition, which is currently split into two factions, the Democratic Party (PD) and the Socialist Movement for Integration

US Ambassador Lu: Police, Prosecution, and Justice Ministry Incompetent

During a speech given at the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the School of Magistrates, US Ambassador Donald Lu strongly criticized the Albanian justice system. There are some famous names of Albanian criminals, like convicted drug trafficker Emiljano Shullazi, whom the media claims continues to carry out drug and arms trafficking from his pre-trial

Co-governing with Oligarchs, Rama Ready to Inflate Prescription Drug Prices

In October 2016, Rama government decided to propose increase the price of prescription drug control excises charged through so-called “stamps” for any prescription drug marketed in the country. From around 2 lekë (without VAT) for each prescription drug box (€14.43 for one thousand control stamps) the price for each stamp will become 2.4% of the price of the

Attack on Online Erotic Service Creates Questions concerning Legislation

A few days ago, the news spread in Tirana that there are 5,000 girls registered as online prostitutes, through a supposedly British website, which offers erotic chat services in exchange for money. The girls offer, through Internet video streaming, auto eroticism and other erotic gymnastics, alluring the client, who pays directly online for these shows.

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