Dear reader,
European Council President Charles Michel said from Tirana on January 24, paying an official visit to Albania (above photo right) that EU member states have no unanimity on the issue of negotiations and that in the coming weeks the union leaders will decide on the methodology for accepting new EU member states. Charles Michel explained that there are three main pillars, the first related to the new format of the enlargement process, the second concerns the European Commission’s orientation on what to seek for the future and the third concerns investments in the Western Balkans. He encouraged continued reforms and dialogue in the candidate countries. Read more….
Prime Minister Rama visits Berlin on January 26
On the agenda is EU membership, the OSCE and the planned earthquake donor conference.
2019 was a good year for the Albanian tourism and health sectors
Over 6.4 million foreign nationals entered Albania in 2019, meaning a significant increase of 8.1% compared to 2018 when that number was 5.9 million foreigners. The foreigner inflows were mainly tourism but an increase of 138% was attributed to foreign inflows for health treatment. According to INSTAT, the situation after the earthquake did not affect foreign nationals and mainly tourists, as in December 2019 288,708 foreign nationals entered the country, increasing by 2.9% compared to 2018.
The share of energy from renewable sources in gross and final consumption in Albania reached 34.9 percent in 2018, thus ranking the country seventh in Europe, Eurostat confirmed.
Banja Hydro-power plant. Norway had by far the highest share in 2018 with 72.8 percent coming from renewable sources, ahead of all the EU and non-EU member countries. The top ten leading European countries for clean energy in 2018 were:
Norway – 72.8 percent
Sweden – 54.6 percent
Finland – 41.2 percent
Latvia – 40.1 percent
Montenegro – 38.8 percent
Denmark – 36.1 percent
Albania – 34.9 percent
Austria – 33.4 percent
Portugal – 30.3 percent
Estonia – 30.0 percent
The diversification of non-hydro renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass is crucial in Albania, as the country strongly depends on hydro-power. Read on…
Photo – voltaics
he Albanian authorities are seeking bids, domestic and international, for the construction and maintenance of a 140MW photo-voltaic plant in Karavasta area, Fier region.
Interested investors can submit their bids by March 16Th, for which financial bids will be opened on the same day at 12:00 hours, according to an Invitation for Bids published by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy on Monday, January 20Th. Read on….
The Albanian President on antisemitism.
In remarks delivered at the Fifth World Holocaust Forum on Thursday, which was held at the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem on Thursday January 23., the President of the Republic, Ilir Meta, said that antisemitism must be fought through education, promotion of dialogue, and mutual respect in the framework of human rights. President Meta described the fight against antisemitism as an immediate security imperative to be met through long-term educational effort.
Recommended: books to read before visiting Albania.
For those planning to travel to Albania this year or in the future, here’s a list of books (memoirs, fiction, history) by Albanian and international writers that lived or traveled through Albania during the last centuries. Read on…….
The Tirana pyramid transformation: from dictatorship to democracy
Read more about the planned transformation here….
Albania was a kingdom 1928 – 1939
Please click on picture or here to visit.
That´s all for now,
sincerely,
Hans-Georg Nielsen
Albanian Honorary Consul
Comments and suggestions are welcome on hgn(at)albanskkonsulat.dk
PS. This newsletter is mainly sent to relevant Danish and Albanian authorities, to Danes who have shown interest in Albania, to Albanians living in Denmark and to the friends and contacts of the consulate.
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