Albania Is in Trouble with a socialist government again

Concerning!

The country is still not part of the EU! What takes so long!

George Soros "established the Open Society Foundation for Albania in Tirana in 1991" (Google Search)

"The nation of Albania is in a crisis; America should be paying attention. Many will ask, “Why?” ...

Albania ... was trapped under horrific communist rule from the conclusion of World War II until the early 1990s—a nearly 50-year prison sentence for more than 3 million people.

After gaining freedom, the Albanian people overwhelmingly chose to develop stronger ties with the West while cultivating self-government and a free-market economy. The nation became an early signatory of the NATO Partnership for Peace and later a full member of NATO. 

Albania was quick to offer military assistance to the U.S. after the 9/11 terror attacks in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Modern Albania has been a true friend to the U.S. in every way.

Today they are again trapped under a socialist party government that is playing fast and loose with the rules of free elections and weaponizing legitimate government functions to suppress dissent and jail political opponents. The heavily entrenched government of Prime Minister Edi Rama is moving the country away from conservatism and family values (long staples of Albanian culture) by using the country as an experiment for the collectivist ideas of George Soros and his ilk. ...

“Since May 31, protests have been taking place across the country. … [In June,] someone wearing a mask took the Israel’s flag down from the Israel Embassy. The country is suffering under rampant corruption, and … ministers of government and the mayor of Tirana are in jail for corruption. Over one million Albanians have left the country in the last [20 years] due to lack of hope.”

After spending more than two years as the first full-time American defense attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania, I can attest to the veracity of these statements. The speaker is not only a nonpolitical man of integrity, but I have had all of his comments confirmed by American citizens living in Albania. ..."

Albania Is in Trouble, and We Need to Pay Attention

Unfazed by Iran’s threats, Bulgaria moves to aid U.S. military operations

Update: Iran warns Bulgaria against aiding US military operations

Good news! Bravo!

While the major European powers like UK, France, and Germany act like cowards refusing to support the US in its war against Iran (e.g. no navy minesweepers, no escorts for commercial ships etc.)! Shame on them!

 

"The Bulgarian parliament’s Defence Committee has voted to approve a draft decision enabling U.S. tanker aircraft to support military operations against Iran from an air base on the Balkan country’s territory. The decision comes despite thinly veiled threats from Iranian officials who warned Sofia against aiding Washington.

The committee’s July 21 vote follows a U.S. diplomatic note submitted to the Bulgarian government. In the note, Washington requested Sofia’s approval for the deployment of up to eight Boeing KC-135 tanker aircraft and up to 250 U.S. troops with related gear at Bezmer Air Base in eastern Bulgaria between July 24 and Oct. 1, state-owned news agency BTA reported. ..."

Unfazed by Iran’s threats, Bulgaria moves to aid U.S. military operations

The First Balkan War (1912-13)

Recommendable, but not very well done!

Is Albania Europe's Rising Star? with James Ker-Lindsay

Recommendable!

Albania PM Goes Down On One Knee For Meloni, Puts Aside Umbrella & Does Namaste | Italy PM Says...

Very funny! And this true gentleman wears white sneakers! Albania is a very special country! E.g. it kept the former Soviet Union at a distance!

Meloni is a star like Sophia Loren or Gina Lollobrigida? 😊

Italian PM Meloni Hails ‘Courageous’ Albania Migrant Deal. The first group of immigrants was sent to Albania for processing

It is certainly worth a try to process immigrants outside of the European Union first and make a determination on the legitimacy of their claims. 

How to deal with mass immigration probably mostly motivated by economic reasons?

Albania to Create Vatican City-style Microstate for Islamic Sufi Sect with Palki Sharma

Recommendable! Amazing stuff! This is about the dervishes! This Islamic minority will allow alcohol and let women wear what they want!

There are some serious doubts this project will come to fruition.

For the first time ever, a President of Israel visits Albania

Which country? It is a NATO member since 2009 and a candidate for the EU since 2014.

During the Cold War it was one of the strangest communist countries under the charismatic leadership of Enver Hoxha of the world besides North Korea. It was not part of or left the Warsaw Pact and the COMECON. Albania split from the Soviet Union in 1961. Among communist leaning students in the West, Albania had quite a bit of following.

"Isaac Herzog’s visit to Albania Thursday marked the first time an Israeli leader set foot in the only European country that ended World War II with more Jews than it started with.

Albania’s role in saving Jews during the Holocaust was a key theme of the Israeli president’s brief visit, which included a ceremony at the Holocaust memorial in Tirana as well as meetings with descendants of some of the 75 Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox Christians listed by Israel’s Yad Vashem as Righteous Gentiles — those who risked their lives to save Jews from deportation to Nazi death camps following Germany’s occupation of Albania in September 1943. ...

“Albanians hid Jews without regard to where they came from, or whether they were rich or poor,”  ...

estimated that up to 3,000 foreign Jews found refuge in Albania during World War II. ..."

In Albania, which saved Jews from the Nazis, educators teach the Holocaust to a new generation - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Albanian President Bajram Begaj meets Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tirana, Albania, Sept. 12, 2024.

Albania’s national Holocaust memorial, situated in a Tirana park, has commemorative plaques in Albanian, English and Hebrew.

Between Russia and the EU: Europe’s Arc of Instability, the Western Balkans

Concerning!

Was it a smart move by the EU and the US support these states to eventually become members of the EU? Certainly these ambitions do not please Putin the Terribly. Probably this move was more of a unnecessary provocation than anything else.

Probably, at this point and as long as Putin the Terrible is in office close cooperation with Western countries and neutrality status for the group of in-between states would have been more advisable!

"The war in Ukraine has left a group of “in-between” European countries more vulnerable and insecure than ever before. These countries—Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, and Serbia ...
All of these in-between states are outside of the European Union and NATO, but are building stronger ties with the EU: several are prospective members of the union. They also maintain many connections with Russia, and are home to pro-Russian political forces and business interests. Many still buy Russian gas. Armenia is a member of two Russian-led institutions—the Eurasian Economic Union and (for now, at least) the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)—but is in the process of reevaluating the utility of membership in these organizations. 

Since 2022, the EU and the United States [the senile, demented and corrupt 46th President] have deployed substantial new political and economic resources to support these in-between states. The EU has relaunched its enlargement process, which had been stalled since 2013, and given candidate status to Moldova, Ukraine, and (more conditionally) Georgia—something that would have been unthinkable a little more than two years ago. It has set up the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) to monitor the border, the first such mission in a country that is a member of the Russia-led CSTO. Moldova is being weaned off of its dependence on Russian gas. ..."

Between Russia and the EU: Europe’s Arc of Instability - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, and Serbia are caught in between Russia and the EU, building ties with the latter even as the former seeks to maintain influence there and deter the West.

Have Serbia and the EU Fallen Out

Recommendable! So much trouble in the Balkans!

EU enlargement in the Western Balkans: Expectations and obstacles

Recommendable!

How the EU Failed the Western Balkans

Recommendable! It's complicated and difficult!

Mandatory Military Service to Return to Serbia with Palki Sharma

Will we see more Balkan wars in the future again? Hopefully, not!

Kosovo und Serbien - Eine Bombe mitten in Europa

Sehr bedenklich! Wird Putin der Schreckliche diese Situation anheizen, oder noch schlimmer, ausnutzen.

"Ende September verlegte Serbien moderne Waffensysteme an seine Grenze zum Kosovo – einer der größten serbischen Militäraufmärsche seit Ende des Kosovokriegs vor fast einem Vierteljahrhundert. Obwohl das Geschehen damals von den westlichen Medien weitgehend übersehen wurde – und inzwischen angesichts des Ausbruchs des Krieges zwischen Israel und der Hamas in Vergessenheit geraten ist –, ist es Teil einer alarmierenden Entwicklung auf dem Balkan.

Der unmittelbare Vorwand für die serbische Mobilisierung waren die monatelangen Unruhen zwischen dem Kosovo und Serbien, die einen brüchigen Frieden aufrechterhalten, seit Nato-Bombardements im Krieg von 1998/1999 dem Kosovo zur faktischen Unabhängigkeit von Belgrad verhalfen. Im Mai versetzte Serbien seine Truppen in Kampfbereitschaft, nachdem im Kosovo lebende ethnische Serben mit der kosovarischen Polizei aneinandergeraten waren. ..."

Kosovo und Serbien - Eine Bombe mitten in Europa | Cicero Online Der serbische Präsident Aleksandar Vucic ist Putins Statthalter auf dem Balkan. Und der Konflikt mit dem Kosovo droht zu eskalieren – aber die westlichen Mächte schauen weg, weil sie sich auf die Ukraine und Israel konzentrieren.

Italy's deal with Albania on migrant camps

Bravo Prime Minister Meloni! Sometimes it takes unconventional measures to deal with an important and urgent issue!

The cap of 3,000 seems to be too tight! 

"Albania will hold a maximum of 3,000 migrants at any one time under a deal announced this week allowing Italy to build two migrant reception and detention camps there, official documents showed on Wednesday.

The scheme is the first example of a non-EU country accepting migrants on behalf of an EU nation, and is part of an bloc-wide drive to clamp down on irregular immigration. ...

The figure compares with the more than 145,000 sea migrants who have arrived in Italy so far this year, a sharp increase from 2022 which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government is keen to contain. ..."

Italy's deal with Albania on migrant camps capped at 3,000 migrants | Reuters

Albania has long been a pro-Israel country. Will the Hamas war change that?

Recommendable! Nice historical background!

Albania was perhaps the most secretive, isolated communist country from 1946-1991. More so than North Korea.

Albania has long been a pro-Israel country. Will the Hamas war change that? - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Terra crypto currency creator Do Kwon reportedly arrested at Montenegro airport

Apparently, another digital/crypto currency high flyer magician on the run was apprehended by police! A young man (age 31) with ambitions!

Daedalus and Icarus come to mind! What goes up must come down!

As they say, never put all or many of your eggs into one basket!

"Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, has reportedly been arrested in Montenegro, according to a local government official.

On Thursday morning, Filip Adzic, the minister of interior of Montenegro, tweeted in Bosnian that Kwon was arrested at the airport in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, with falsified documents. ...

Kwon has been under investigation for the past 11 months since the Terra/LUNA collapse, which wiped out about $40 billion from the cryptocurrency market. ..."

 

Terra creator Do Kwon reportedly arrested at Montenegro airport | TechCrunch

Albania Suffers 2nd major cyber attacks from Iran in about two months

Why would an obscure country like Albania be severely and repeatedly cyber attacked by Iran? Apparently, major public/government services had to be shut down.

"... Albania blamed Iran for the July attack and Wednesday cut diplomatic ties over the affair.

The two countries have been bitter foes for years, since the Balkan state began hosting members of the opposition People's Mujahedeen of Iran, or Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), on its soil.

[Prime Minister] Rama on Wednesday accused Iran of directing a cyberattack against Albanian institutions July 15 in a bid to "paralyze public services and hack data and electronic communications from the government systems." ..."

Albania Suffers 2nd Cyberattack, Blames Iran

Could a conflict in the BALKANS BREAK OUT AGAIN?

Very recommendable! Just pray that the Russian war of aggression against the Ukraine does not spread into the Balkans. The Balkans have remained to be a multi ethnic hotbed at least since World War I. Only during the long reign of communist dictator Tito was there some stability and economic well being in the region thanks to Balkanization (divide and rule).

Trump oversees historic deal between Serbia, Kosovo

Good news! Peace in the Balkans is almost a miracle!

Blessed are the peacemakers!

How much do we have to thank Melania for this historic peace agreement? She is originally from Slovenia. Maybe one day we will find out.