Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Albania
Newsline: Albania protests to British ambassador over migrants
Albania on Monday handed a note of protest to the British ambassador over comments by immigration minister Robert Jenrick about illegal Albanian immigrants that the foreign ministry said used the “language of hatred”. The Albanian ministry statement said that “this language of hatred and discrimination” should be avoided. “Through this note the Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the latest statements with discriminatory language against Albanians,” the statement said. (https://neuters.de/world/europe/albania-protests-uk-over-language-hatred-over-migrants-2023-01-16/) Albania’s protest came after Jenrick published a video on Facebook on Jan. 13, when he was visiting a deportation centre, in which he praised staff working “to find the Albanians, to detain them, to put them onto coaches, to take them to the airport and get them back to Tirana”. In the past year there has been a significant increase in the number of Albanians trying to reach Britain in small boats arriving on the south coast. Some British politicians say migrants from Albania – a European Union candidate and NATO ally – have not suffered persecution but are moving for economic reasons.
Newsline: Closed Iranian embassy in Albania searched
Albanian counter-terrorism police searched the empty Iranian embassy in Tirana on Thursday, hours after Iranian diplomats burned papers inside the premises following the severing of diplomatic ties over a cyberattack. The police, wearing masks and helmets and carrying automatic rifles, entered the building – situated just 200 metres from Rama’s office – after two cars with diplomatic plates had left, a Reuters reporter saw. Thirty minutes later, the police were still inside. The same reporter earlier saw a man inside the embassy throwing papers into a rusty barrel, with flames illuminating the walls of the three-story building. (https://news.yahoo.com/iranian-diplomats-burn-documents-hours-045305764.html) Albania cut diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday, when Prime Minister Edi Rama blamed the cyberattack, which took place in July, on the Islamic Republic, and gave its diplomats 24 hours to close the embassy and leave the country.
Newsline: Albania cut diplomatic ties with Iran
Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday and ordered Iranian diplomats and embassy staff to leave within 24 hours, saying a probe had found the Islamic Republic was behind a cyberattack on the country in July. “The government has decided with immediate effect to end diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a video statement sent to the media. “This extreme response … is fully proportionate to the gravity and risk of the cyberattack that threatened to paralyse public services, erase digital systems and hack into state records, steal government intranet electronic communication and stir chaos and insecurity in the country,” Rama said. (https://www.reuters.com/world/albania-cuts-iran-ties-orders-diplomats-go-after-cyber-attack-pm-says-2022-09-07/) There was no immediate comment from the Iranian Embassy in Tirana.
Newsline: Albania, host of Iranian dissident camp, expels two Iranian diplomats
Albania, which hosts a camp for thousands of members of an exiled Iranian dissident group, expelled two Iranian diplomats , more than a year after kicking out the Iranian ambassador. Acting Foreign Minister Gent Cakaj identified the diplomats in a statement on social media as Mohammad Ali Arz Peimanemati and Seyed Ahmad Hosseini Alast. They were expelled for activity incompatible with their diplomatic status, a phrase often used in cases of spying. “The two representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been asked to depart immediately from the territory of the Republic of Albania,” Cakaj said. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-albania-iran-expulsion/albania-host-of-iranian-dissident-camp-expels-two-iranian-diplomats-idUSKBN1ZE27X) In December 2018, Albania expelled Iran’s ambassador and another diplomat for “damaging its national security”. Iran said at the time Albania had acted under pressure from Israel and the United States.
Newsline: Japan officially opens Tirana embassy
Japan has officially opened its Tirana embassy with a special ceremony attended by Japan’s Minister of State for Foreign Relation, Nobuo Kishi, in addition to several Albanian officials. Minister Kishi praised Albania’s role in the region and said Japan would show a full commitment to economic and political cooperation with Albania. In meetings with Albanian leaders, Kishi said he valued the cooperation of the two countries in international organizations, good experience in supporting mutual candidacies and for the formulation of joint stances on important global issues. “The opening of the new embassy is very good news and a further signal of the strengthening and enrichment of relations between the two countries,” Albanian President Bujar Nishani said at a meeting with Kishi.
Newsline: Greek ambassador attacked in Albania
The Greek ambassador, Leonidas Rokanas has been attacked with eggs in the city of Fier. Therefore he stayed for almost an hour in the mayor’s offices to avoid any other incident. The police reacted after some people removed forcefully the Greek flag in “Europa Piazza” square. It was put there to celebrate of the national day of Greece, a few days before. Even though the police took care for everything to go as it was predicted, the Greek ambassador was egged.
http://english.albeu.com/news/news/greek-ambassador-attacked-in-fier/146278/
Newsline: Envoy’s wife creates first Japanese-Albanian dictionary
In hopes of bridging the language gap between Japan and her country, Reko Dida, 47, created a Japanese-Albanian dictionary this spring — the first such dictionary for the southeastern European nation. Dida, the wife of Albanian Ambassador to Japan Bujar Dida, 51, said she hopes her 13,000-word dictionary will help the two countries build a stronger relationship. The Japanese-Albanian dictionary was produced in April in cooperation with the Japan Foundation and a nonprofit organization called Japan Return Program, among others. Reko Dida, who speaks fluent Japanese, first came to Japan in 1996 with Bujar, who entered a doctoral course at Tohoku University to study chemical engineering. To learn more about Japan, Dida began studying Japanese with her son Besar, who was attending a local elementary school, and was soon able to communicate in the language. Even after returning home in 1999, Dida kept up her Japanese studies, saying she still wanted to continue learning about the country. She also worked at a local office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency. It was her notes on Japanese and Albanian translations during this time that would eventually become the basis for her dictionary. Dida returned to Japan in 2009 when her husband assumed the post of ambassador. After the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck the Tohoku region — including Dida’s second hometown of Sendai — in March 2011, many foreigners left Japan. Dida, however, chose to remain.
Newsline: Thieves rob Albanian embassy in Athens
Greek police say thieves have broken into the Albanian embassy in Athens, escaping with an unknown sum from two bank cash machines in the consular section. A police statement says nothing else was taken in the break-in at the building in the Athens suburb of Filothei. Amid its acute debt crisis, since the start of 2011 Greece has suffered a 10 percent increase in thefts and armed robberies compared to the same period last year, according to police figures. Armed robberies on homes have more than doubled.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2012/03/13/thieves-rob-albanian-embassy-in-athens
Newsline: Sweden to close six embassies, open 10 new ones
The Swedish government said it would close six Swedish embassies, including five in Europe, this year and open 10 new embassies. Embassies facing closure were based in European Union members Bulgaria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Slovenia. “Within the framework of the close cooperation that exists between the EU member states, there is scope for developing new forms for maintaining bilateral contacts in future,” Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. Meanwhile, Sweden is to upgrade its missions in Albania, Kosovo, Georgia and Moldova to embassies. The sixth embassy to be closed was in Dakar, Senegal, while section offices were to be upgraded in Senegal’s West African neighbours Burkina Faso, Liberia and Mali as well as Rwanda, Bolivia and Cambodia.
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