Europa Travel and Tours sh.p.k. (Albania) - Company Profile - new report released

http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/Summary-Company-Profile/europa-travel-and-tours-sh.p.k.-(albania)-company-profile-148206.asp

Europa Travel and Tours sh.p.k. is an Albanian travel agency and tour operator with operations both on the domestic and international markets. It is also engaged in providing support transport activities. The company profile contains corporate history, company overview, contact details, key management, shareholders and investors, a description of products and services, financial analysis, sales analysis, leading competitors
and investment plans.


Source:live-pr.com

Italy, Slovenia ask EU to lift visa regimes for Albania, BiH

TIRANA, Albania -- Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Slovenian counterpart Samuel Zbogar have sent a letter to the EU asking members to speed up the process of visa liberalisation for Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), local media reported on Wednesday (November 25th). Both countries failed to issue biometric passports and ensure full border control, which left them outside the current visa liberalisation plan for the Western Balkans. Instead, only citizens of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro will enjoy visa-free travel next year as a reward for meeting standards set by Brussels. (Shekulli, Telegrafi, ANSA, STA - 24/11/09)


Source:setimes.com

Albania steps closer to EU membership

EU foreign ministers ask Commission for formal opinion on the opening of talks.
The European Commission should begin assessing Albania's application for membership in the European Union, the Union's foreign ministers decided yesterday.

The ministers' referral of Albania's application, submitted on 28 April, to the Commission is the first step on the way to membership talks. The Commission's assessment normally takes around one year to complete. The referral is a political sign of willingness on the part of the EU's member states. Albania will, however, face an uphill struggle to meet the EU's demanding criteria for membership and, in the best-case scenario for Albania, accession remains several years away.

The country's prospects are currently being hampered by a political stalemate in the wake of an election in June, won narrowly by the governing Democrats led by Sali Berisha, a dominant figure of post-communist Albania. Since the election, the Socialist opposition has boycotted parliament. In its progress report on the country published in October, the Commission said that this had delayed important reforms. The judicial system, together with pervasive corruption and organised crime, are a special concern.

Albania has also failed to qualify for the lifting of EU visa requirements because of weaknesses in policymaking and implementation. Citizens of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia will be able to travel to the Schengen area without visas as of 19 December, subject to final approval by EU justice ministers. Bosnia and Herzegovina also failed to qualify. Bosnians and Albanians will now have to wait until mid-2010 at the earliest before they can travel without visas.

In July, Iceland submitted an application for membership that was referred to the Commission within days. Iceland already implements a wide range of EU law.

The Commission is also currently scrutinising the membership application of Albania's northern neighbour, Montenegro, which submitted its application last December. EU ministers referred it to the Commission in April.

Source:europeanvoice.com

Slovenian, Italian FMs Urge Faster Visa Liberalisation for Bosnia, Albania

Ljubljana, 24 November (STA) - Slovenian and Italian foreign ministers Samuel Zbogar and Franco Frattini have written to their EU counterparts a letter calling for stepping up the process of visa liberalisation for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

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Source:sta.si

albania property to see continued demand as eu application proceeds well

Albania's path towards EU membership is still proceeding well. This week, European Union Officials have officially accepted Albania's formal application for membership, and the European Commission will now submit an opinion on Albania's bid.

EU membership for Albania is expected to become a reality by 2014/15. The chances of Albania becoming an EU member are relatively good, because of the country's continued reform process, and it continued investment in infrastructure and the welfare of its people.

Between 2002 and 2006 Albania successfully brought 1 quarter of its poorest people out of poverty. This led to its classification being upped to a middle income country, which meant it could then apply for loans from international financial institutions as oppose to relying on hand-outs from the likes of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Since then Albania has applied for and received several multi=-million Euro loans from global banks and governments; including a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to refurbish, renovate and expand (with a new terminal) the country's largest port at Duress, and another from multiple sources to upgrade road links between the port and land-locked Kosovo into a super highway.

Those two projects alone -- though they were considered risky given their timing, during a global recession -- have the potential to be a massive boost to Albania's economy for many years to come; Kosovo tourists will come to enjoy the beaches, and Kosovo companies will increase exports through the Duress port, not to mention the trade and tourism in the opposite direction.

That sums up the Albanian government's economic policy of continually investing in the future. This is why the EU will almost certainly accept Albania into the community, if not by 2014 then by 2016 at the latest. This will again be a boost to Albania's economy, as EU residents are then able to travel visa-free to and from Albania.

EU entry on the horizon will continue to make Albania property very popular with investors in the coming years.

Source:property-abroad.com

Albania, BiH introduce visa-free travel

Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) agreement scrapping bilateral visa requirements entered into force on Sunday.
The agreement will allow Albanians and Bosnians to visit each others countries for up to 90 days without having to apply for visas, Albania's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Albanian foreign ministry's spokesman Ralf Gjoni said the country is trying to reach a deal with Serbia on scrapping the visa requirements.



Source:mrt.com.mk

FBI Wanted Suspect Arrested in Albania

Albanian police arrested on Wednesday evening in Tirana Gazmir Gjoka, a suspected drug dealer wanted in New Jersey on charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics.

Interpol had earlier issued an international arrest warrant for Gjoka, a 56-year-old Tirana native with US residence.

The FBI, in conjunction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had charged Gjoka and 25 other individuals with a long list of crimes including narcotics and firearms trafficking, money laundering, interstate transportation of stolen property, and criminal conspiracy.

Three other suspects, aside from Gjoka, are presently fugitives.

“This is the culmination of a joint operation between the federal agencies that began in late 2003 with targets in Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States,” said in a statement in March the US law enforcement agency, referring to the operation to dismantle the criminal syndicate, code named 'Black Eagle'.

The operation led to the coordinated arrests of 17 of the 26 defendants over a period of five days in various cites throughout the New Jersey – New York area.

“This case vividly illustrates how crime has become global,” said Weysan Dun, Special Agent In Charge of the FBI’s Newark Field Office.

“Although the individuals recently arrested conducted their criminal activity in a variety of cities and towns throughout New Jersey, they all had associations and connections in Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States,” Dun added.

Source:balkaninsight.com

Albania Press Review - November 10

Here are the top stories in Albania’s main newspapers. Balkan Insight has not verified the reports and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

SHQIP
Albania's government is currently considering redrawing the concessionary agreement with Tirana's Mother Theresa International Airport, which has a monopoly on international air travel, and that according to the government is hampering the further development of other airports inside the country.
PANORAMA
Albania's former ambassador in West Germany, Shpetim Caushi, says in an interview that the German government offered Albania's former communist rulers up to two billion dollars in 1986, to loosen their grip and install democratic changes inside the country.
KORRIERI
EU diplomats in Albania call for a compromise solution over the political crises that has the opposition boycotting parliament since the end of the June 28 parliamentary elections.


Source:balkaninsight.com

Albania and Bosnia implement visa-free regime, aiding ties

Citizens of Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina no longer need visas to travel between the two countries due to a change in regulations effective Nov.1.

The countries had agreed on Mar.24 to scrap visas for travelers who hold ordinary passports in a move to improve business and tourism, also aligning the regime to that of European Union countries and their neighbours.

Duration of a stay should not exceed 90 days within a period of 180 days, the Albanian Foreign Ministry (www.mfa.gov.al) said in a statement.



Source:balkans.com

Albania Twitter

Albania /ælˈbeɪniə/ (Albanian: Shqipëri/Shqipëria, Gheg Albanian: Shqipnia or Shqypnia), officially the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë, pronounced [ɾɛpuˈblika ɛ ʃcipəˈɾiːs]), is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea.

Albania is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Council of Europe, World Trade Organisation, Organisation of the Islamic Conference and one of the founding members of the Union for the Mediterranean. Albania has been a potential candidate for accession to the European Union since January 2003, and it formally applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009.

Albania is a parliamentary democracy and a transition economy. The Albanian capital, Tirana, is home to approximately 895,000 of the country's 3.6 million people, and it is also the financial capital of the country. Free-market reforms have opened the country to foreign investment, especially in the development of energy and transportation infrastructure