Dear reader,
Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj met on July 8. in Copenhagen with his Danish counterpart Jeppe Kofod.
Cakaj commented over social media on the meeting, saying that the two interlocutors had stressed the need to further deepen the bilateral relations, especially in terms of economic co-operation. Cakaj wrote that Denmark has played a key role in the launching of membership talks between the European Union and Albania.
He said that the meeting also aimed at informing his counterpart on Albania’s efforts to meet the obligations ahead of the holding of the first intergovernmental conference as part of the said negotiations. According to him, the two interlocutors also stressed their countries’ mutual support in the efforts to obtain a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.
Negotiation framework to be approved in November?
Electronic media reported on July 3. that the European Union Council will most likely approve the negotiating frameworks with Albania and North Macedonia in November. This is what transpires from the publication of the EU Foreign Ministers’ agenda for the German EU Presidency. Thus, the EU FMs will discuss enlargement in a meeting to be held on 10 November 2020.
A guide to the Danish System.
Albanian media report, that the Albanian parliament seems to have agreed on a parliamentary electoral system similar to the Danish proportional system with open lists. Read the guide to the Danish system…
Problems with passengers rights. Not with Air Serbia.
By clicking on the picture you can read about passengers problems with many Airlines. Personally we had no problem at all getting the asked for refund from Air Serbia. Very professional handling.
The Albanian gender pay gap.
Male employees were paid 10.1 percent more than their female counterparts in 2019, official data show. The data from ‘Men and Women in Albania 2020’ survey conducted by the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) show that the gender pay gap narrowed by 0.6 percent compared to 2018.
Men earned a median salary of Lek 54,940 (443 Euro), compared with Lek 49,411 for females. Financial inequality was present in every sector from the highest to the lowest-paying.
For example, financial and insurance and ICT are the top highest paying jobs in Albania. A man working in the financial sector earned a median salary of Lek 118,629 compared with Lek 100,775 for females.
Moreover, the median gross salary for men in the ICT sector was Lek 85,468 compared with Lek 73,232 for women.
Link to Western Balkan at a glance here.
That´s all for now,
sincerely,
Hans-Georg Nielsen
Albanian Honorary Consul
