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Wikipedia: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Albanian_history_to_1993
Wikipedia: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Albanian_history_from_1994
Medieval clan leader Leke
Gukagjini established
the Kanun of Leke or Code of Leke in northern Albania. It regulated
community
life through rules of loyalty and concepts of honor that incorporated
both
acts of revenge and magnanimous pardon.
(SFC, 3/5/96, p.A8)
The Kheg dialect is spoken in the north while the Tosk dialect
is spoken in the south.
(WSJ, 4/2/99, p.A9)
1225BC Earliest known Illyrian
king, Hyllus, died.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1000BC The Illyrians were Indo-European tribesmen who
appeared in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula about 1000 BC.
Albanians derive their name from an Illyrian tribe called the Arber, or
Arbereshë, and later Albanoi, that lived near Durrës.
(http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/illyria/)
400BC-300BC King Bardhylus united Illyria, Molossia
(Epirus) and part of Macedonia. The Illyrian kingdom reaches its peak.
(www, Albania, 1998)
358BC Illyrians were defeated by Philip II of
Macedonia.
(www, Albania, 1998)
312BC King Glauk of Illyria expelled the Greeks from
Durrës.
(www, Albania, 1998)
232BC King Agron died, the Illyrian throne was
occupied by Queen Teuta.
(www, Albania, 1998)
165BC Romans captured King Gent of Illyria and sent
him to Rome. Illyria went under Roman control.
(www, Albania, 1998)
44BC Caesar began building a
colony at Butrint, Albania. Titus Pomponius Atticus described the area
as "the quietest, coolest, most pleasant place in the world."
(Reuters, 6/13/06)
1-100 Christianity came to
Illyrian populated areas.
(www, Albania, 1998)
9 Emperor Tiberius of Rome
subjugated the Illyrians and divided present day Albania between
Dalmatia, Epirus, and Macedonia.
(www, Albania, 1998)
193 Apr 9, In the Balkans, the
distinguished soldier Septimius Seversus was proclaimed emperor by the
army in Illyricum.
(HN, 4/9/99)
300-700 Goths, Huns, Avars, Serbs, Croats, and
Bulgars successively invade Illyrian lands.
(www, Albania, 1998)
395 Division of Roman Empire left
lands presently inhabited by Albanians under the administration of the
Eastern Empire.
(www, Albania, 1998)
700-800 Slav tribes settle into the territories of
present-day Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, and
assimilated the Illyrian populations of these regions. The Illyrians in
the south averted assimilation.
(www, Albania, 1998)
732 Illyrians were subordinated
to the patriarchate of Constantinople by the Byzantine Emperor, Leo the
Isaurian.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1054 The Roman and Orthodox
Churches split decisively. The Orthodox Church did not accept the papal
authority from Rome. Christians in southern Albania were left under the
ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople and those in the north under the
pope in Rome.
(WSJ, 11/14/95, p. A-12)(WP, 6/29/96, p.B7)(www,
Albania, 1998)
1081 Albania and Albanians were
mentioned for the first time in a historical record by a Byzantine
emperor.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1100-1200 Serbs occupied parts of northern and
eastern Albanian inhabited lands.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1204 Venice won control over most
of Albania, but Byzantines regained control of the southern portion and
established the Despotate of Epirus.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1272 Forces of the King of Naples
occupied Durrës and established the Kingdom of Arbëria, the
first Albanian kingdom since the fall of Illyria.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1385 Albanian ruler of
Durrës invited Ottoman forces to intervene against a rival.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1389 Jun 15, The Serbs were
defeated by Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Kosovo at the Field of the
Blackbirds. In the battle, the Serb prince Lazar was captured by the
Turks and beheaded. Lazar's bones were placed in the monastery at
Grancanica in Kosovo. Sultan Murad, the Ottoman leader was killed in
the battlefield by the wounded son-in-law of King Lazar. Serbs say that
Albanians aided the Turkish invaders. Historical evidence shows that
both forces were multinational and that Serbs and Albanian fought on
both sides. In 1999 Ismail Kadare, Albanian author, wrote "Elegy for
Kosovo," in which he retells the story of the battle. Bosnian King
Tvrtko and other Balkan princes along with Albanians fought under the
command of Serbian Prince Lazar.
(SFC, 12/29/96, BR p.7)(SFC, 3/3/98, p.A8)(WSJ,
5/5/98, p.A20)(HN, 6/15/98)(WSJ, 3/25/99, p.A17)(WSJ, 5/7/99,
p.A1,18)(SFEC, 7/23/00, BR p.7)
1403 Gjergj Kastrioti (d.1468)
was born. He became the Albanian leader known as Skanderbeg.
(www, Albania, 1998)(HNQ, 10/5/98)
1443 After losing a battle near
Nis, Skanderbeg with a group of Albanian warriors defected from the
Ottoman army and return to Kruja. Albanian resistance to Turkish rule
was organized under the leadership of Skander Beg in Kruja. He was able
to keep Albania independent for more than 20 years. A baronial museum
in his honor was later was designed by the daughter of Enver Hoxha.
(CO, Grolier’s Amer. Acad. Enc./ Albania)(WSJ,
4/14/98, p.A21)(www, Albania, 1998)
1444 The Albanian people organized
a league of Albanian princes in this year under George Kastrioti, also
known as Skanderbeg. As leader of this Christian league he effectively
repulsed 13 Turkish invasions from 1444 to 1466, making him a hero in
the Western world.
(HNQ, 10/5/98)(www, Albania, 1998)
1449 Albanians, under Skenderbeg,
routed the Ottoman forces under Sultan Murat II.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1468 Skanderbeg (62) of Albania
died and the Turks absorbed Albania into the Ottoman Empire. Over the
next five centuries most Albanians converted to Islam.
(CO, Grolier’s / Albania)(www, Albania, 1998)
1478 Ten years after the death of
Skanderbeg, his citadel at Kruje was finally taken by the Ottoman Turks
and Albania fell into obscurity during several centuries of Turkish
rule.
(HNQ, 10/5/98)(www, Albania, 1998)
1479 Shkodra fell to the Ottoman
Turks. Subsequently, many Albanians fled to southern Italy, Greece,
Egypt, and elsewhere; many remaining were forced to convert to Islam.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1600-1650 In the early Seventeenth Century: Some
Albanians who converted to Islam found careers in Ottoman Empire's
government and military.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1600-1800 About two-thirds of the Albanians converted
to Islam.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1614 Sulayman Pasha, a Turkish
general, named the Tehran (later Tirana) as the capital of Albania
after the capital of Iran.
(SSFC, 12/17/06, p.G5)
1799 Mar 7, In Palestine, Napoleon
captured Jaffa and his men massacred more than 2,000 Albanian prisoners.
(HN, 3/7/99)
1822 Albanian leader Ali Pasha of
Tepelena was assassinated by Ottoman agents for promoting autonomy.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1830 1000 Albanian leaders were
invited to meet with an Ottoman general who killed about half of them.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1835 The Ottoman Porte divided
Albanian-populated lands into vilayets of Janina, Manastir, Shkodra,
and Kosova with Ottoman administrators.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1861 The first school known to
use Albanian language in modern times was opened in Shkodra.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1877-78 Treaty of San Stefano, signed after
Russo-Turkish War, assigned Albanian-populated lands to Bulgaria,
Montenegro and Serbia; but Austria-Hungary and Britain block the
treaty's implementation. Albanian leaders meet in Prizren, Kosova, to
form the League of Prizren. The League initially advocated autonomy for
Albania. At the Congress of Berlin, the Great Powers overturned the
Treaty of San Stefano and divided Albanian lands among several states.
The League of Prizren began to organize resistance to the Treaty of
Berlin's provisions that affected Albanians.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1878 Jul 13, The Treaty of Berlin
amended the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano, which had ended the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. The Congress of Berlin divided the
Balkans among European powers.
(AP, 7/13/97)(HN, 7/13/98)
1881 Ottoman forces crushed
Albanian resistance fighters at Prizren. The League's leaders and
families were arrested and deported.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1897 Ottoman authorities
disbanded a reactivated League of Prizren, executed its leader and
banned Albanian language books.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1908 Albanian intellectuals met
in Manastir (Bitolja, Macedonia), at the Congress of Manastir to
standardize the Albanian alphabet using the Latin script. Up to now,
Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic script had been used.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1910 Aug 26, Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu
(d.1997), later known as Mother Teresa and care-taker of the poor in
Calcutta, was born to an ethnic Albanian family in Uskub (later Skopje,
Macedonia). In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta
and in 1979 was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for her work.
(SFC, 8/26/97, p.C3)(AP,
9/26/04)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa)
1912 May, Albanians rose against
the Ottoman authorities and seized Shkup (Skopje, Macedonia).
(www, Albania, 1998)
1912 Oct 8, Montenegro declared
war on Turkey beginning the 1st Balkan War. Balkan League members
followed Montenegro 10 days later. [see Oct 18]
(http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/bravo/balkan1912.htm)
1912 Oct 18, The First Balkan War
broke out between the members of the Balkan League-- Serbia, Bulgaria,
Greece and Montenegro--and the Ottoman Empire. A small Balkan War broke
out and was quelled by the major powers. Albanian nationalism spurred
repeated revolts against Turkish dominion and resulted in the First
Balkan War in which the Turks were driven out of much of the Balkan
Peninsula. Austria-Hungary’s 1908 annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
spurred Serbian efforts to form the Balkan alliance with its
neighbors. As a result of the war on Turkey, Serbia doubled its
territory with the award of Northern Macedonia. Albanian leaders
affirmed Albania as an independent state. [see Oct 8]
(V.D.-H.K.p.290)(CO, Grolier’s/ Albania)(HN,
10/18/98)(HNQ, 3/27/99)(www, Albania, 1998)
1912 Nov, Albanian delegates at
Vlora declared the independence of Albania and established a
provisional government.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1912 Dec 25, Italy landed troops
in Albania to protect its interests during a revolt there.
(HN, 12/25/98)
1912 Dec, Ambassadorial conference
opened in London and discussed Albania's fate.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1912 European powers awarded
Kosovo to Serbia rather than the new Republic of Albania. [see Nov,
1913]
(SFC, 10/28/00, p.A12)
1913 Feb 26-1913 Mar 6, An
Albanian Congress was held in Trieste as the Ottoman Empire broke down.
Ismail Qemali served as head of the provisional government of the newly
founded Albanian state.
(http://tinyurl.com/jffdw)
1913 May 30, New country of
Albania formed.
(MC, 5/30/02)
1913 May 30, Conclusion of the
First Balkan War. The Treaty of London ended First Balkan War, and the
Second Balkan War began.
(HN, 5/30/98)(www, Albania, 1998)
1913 Jul 30, Conclusion of 2nd
Balkan War. [see Aug 10]
(MC, 7/30/02)
1913 Sep 23, Serbian troops
marched into Albania.
(MC, 9/23/01)
1913 Oct 18, Austrian-Hungary
demanded that Serbia and Albania leave.
(MC, 10/18/01)
1913 Nov, Treaty of Bucharest
ended the Second Balkan War. The Great Powers recognized an independent
Albanian state. Demographics were ignored, however, and half of the
territories inhabited by Albanians (such as Kosova and Chameria) were
divided among Montenegro, Serbia and Greece.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1914 Mar 6, German Prince Wilhelm
de Wied was crowned as King of Albania. He was installed as head of the
Albanian state by the International Control Commission. His rule ended
within six months, with the outbreak of World War I.
(HN, 3/6/98)(www, Albania, 1998)
1918 Dec, Albanian leaders met at
Durrës to discuss Albania's interests at the Paris Peace
Conference. When World War I ended the Italian armies occupied most of
Albania, and Serbian, Greek and French armies occupied the remainder.
Italian and Yugoslav powers began a struggle for dominance over
Albanians.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1918 Kosovo became part of the
newly created Yugoslavia and was dominated by a Serbian monarchy until
WW II.
(SFC, 3/3/98, p.A8)
1919 Serbs attacked Albanian
cities; Albanians adopted guerilla warfare. Albania was denied official
representation at the Paris Peace Conference; British, French and Greek
negotiators decided to divide Albania among Greece, Italy and
Yugoslavia. This decision was vetoed by American president Wilson.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1920 Jan, Albanian leaders met in
Lushnjë and rejected the partitioning of Albania by the Treaty of
Paris. They created a bicameral parliament and warned that Albanians
would take up arms in defense of territory.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1920 Feb, Albanian government
moved to Tirana, which became the capital.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1920 Sep, Albania forced Italy to
withdraw its troops and abandon claims on Albanian territory.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1920 Dec, Albania was admitted to
the League of Nations as sovereign and independent state.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1921 Nov, Yugoslav troops invaded
Albania; The League of Nations commission forced Yugoslav withdrawal
and reaffirmed Albania's 1913 borders.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1921 Dec, The Popular Party, led
by Xhafer Ypi, formed a government with Ahmet Zogu as minister of
internal affairs.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1922 Aug, The ecumenical
patriarch in Constantinople recognized the Autochephalous Albanian
Orthodox Church.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1922 Sep, Ahmet Zogu, a tribal
warlord, assumed the position of Prime Minister.
(SFC, 6/27/97, p.A16)(www, Albania, 1998)
1923 Albania's Sunni Muslims
broke ties with Constantinople and pledged primary allegiance to native
country.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1923 Sep 26, Sir Aubrey Herbert
(b.1880), Englishman, died. He worked for Albania’s independence and
was twice offered the throne of Albania. He authored the WW 1 journal
“Mons, Anzac & Kut.”
(www.ku.edu/carrie/texts/world_war_I/Mons/mons.htm)(Econ, 12/18/04,
p.16)
1924 Mar, Zogu's party won
elections for the National Assembly, but Zogu stepped down after a
financial scandal and an assassination attempt.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1924 Jul, A peasant-backed
insurgency won control of Tirana; Fan S. Noli became Prime Minister;
Zogu fled to Yugoslavia.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1924 Dec, Zogu, backed by Yugoslav
army, returned to power and began to smother parliamentary democracy;
Noli fled to Italy.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1926 Italy and Albania signed the
First Treaty of Tirana, which guaranteed Zogu's political position and
Albania's boundaries.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1927 Mar 10, Albania mobilized
under the threat of Serbia, Croatia & Slovenes.
(MC, 3/10/02)
1928 Sep 1, Albania became a
kingdom. Ahmed Zogu proclaimed Albania to be a monarchy and established
himself as “His Majesty King Zog I.” Zogu pressured the parliament to
dissolve itself, and a new constituent assembly declared Albania a
kingdom with Zogu as Zog I, "King of the Albanians." He obtained
Italian aid for modernization and weakened the constitution to arrange
for his son to succeed him. The National Assembly gave him a title that
translates into “prince.”
(CO, Grolier’s / Albania)(SFC, 6/27/97, p.A16)(www,
Albania, 1998)(SC, 9/1/02)
1931 King Zog escaped an
assassination attempt in Vienna.
(SFC, 10/28/02, p.A17)
1931 Zog refused to renew the
First Treaty of Tirana. Italians continued with political and economic
pressure.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1934 Jun 23, Italy gained the
right to colonize Albania after defeating the country.
(HN, 6/23/98)
1934 After Albania signed trade
agreements with Greece and Yugoslavia. Italy suspended economic
support, then attempted to threaten Albania.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1935 Mussolini presented a gift
of 3,000,000 gold francs to Albania; other economic aid followed.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1937 Italy occupied Albania. [see
Apr 8, 1939]
(SFC, 4/5/97, p.A20)
1938 Jan 1, King Zog of Albania
met Geraldine Apponyi (1915-2002). They became engaged 10 days later.
(SFC, 10/28/02, p.A17)
1938 Apr 27, King Zog of Albania
married Geraldine Apponyi (22) of Hungary.
(SFC, 10/28/02, p.A17)
1939 Mar, Mussolini delivered an
ultimatum to Albania.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1939 Apr 7, Italy invaded Albania,
which offered only token resistance. Less than a week later, Italy
annexed Albania. [see Apr 8]
(AP, Internet, 4/7/99)
1939 Apr 8, Italy, under Fascist
dictatorship led by Benito Mussolini seized the country of Albania. The
Albanian parliament voted to unite Albania with Italy; King Zog fled to
Greece. [see Apr 7]
(HN, 4/8/98)(www, Albania, 1998)
1939-1943 During the 4 years of Axis rule the
province of Kosovo was annexed to the rest of Albania.
(WSJ, 4/2/99, p.A9)
1940 Apr 12, Italy annexed Albania.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1940 Oct 28, Italy invaded Greece,
launching six divisions on four fronts from occupied Albania. Greece
successfully resisted Italy's attack.
(AP, 10/28/97)(HN, 10/28/98)(MC, 10/28/01)
1940-1944 Britain’s Special Operations Executive, an
agency set up by Winston Churchill, carried out operations in Albania
to support anti-German partisans. In 2008 Roderick Bailey authored ”The
Wildest Province: SOE in the Land of the Eagle.”
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.97)
1941 Jan 4, On the Greek-Albanian
front, the Greeks launched an attack towards Valona from Berat to
Klisura against the Italians.
(HN, 1/4/00)
1941 Apr 6, German troops invaded
Yugoslavia and Greece. Italian and Albanian forces attacked and jointly
occupied Yugoslavia. Germany, with support of Italy and other allies
defeated Greece and Yugoslavia.
(WUD, 1944, p.1683)(SFC, 4/5/97, p.A20)(www,
Albania, 1998)
1941 Apr 17, Yugoslavia
surrendered to Germany ending 11 days of futile resistance against the
invading German Wehrmacht. More than 300,000 Yugoslav officers and
soldiers were taken prisoner. Italian and Albanian forces attacked and
jointly occupied Yugoslavia.
(SFC, 4/5/97, p.A20)(AP, 4/17/97)(MC, 4/17/02)
1941 Oct, Josip Broz Tito,
Yugoslav communist leader, directed the organizing of Albanian
communists.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1941 Nov, The Albanian Communist
Party was founded; Enver Hoxha became the first secretary.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1942 Sep, The Communist Party
organized a National Liberation Movement as a popular front resistance
organization.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1942 Oct, Non-communist
nationalist groups formed to resist the Italian occupation.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1943 Aug, Italy's surrender to
Allied forces weakened Italian hold on Albania; Albanian resistance
fighters overwhelmed five Italian divisions.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1943 Sep, German forces invaded
and occupied Albania.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1944 Jan, Communist Partisans,
supplied with British weapons, gained control of southern Albania.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1944 May, Communists met to
organize an Albanian government; Hoxha became chairman of the executive
committee and supreme commander of the Army of National Liberation.
Enver Hoxha was the leader of the Balkan nation of Albania from 1944
until 1983. Hoxha, leader of a national liberation movement during
Italy’s occupation of Albania in World War II, came to power when the
Communist insurgency seized control of the country in 1944, beginning
nearly 40 years of harsh Stalinist rule. Albania, which borders on
Greece and Yugoslavia, eventually broke with the Soviet Union and later
China over ideological issues and by the time of the death of Hoxha in
1983 it had become one of the most politically and socially isolated
countries in the world.
(www, Albania, 1998)(HNQ, 1/11/00)
1944 Jul, Communist forces entered
central and northern Albania.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1944 Nov 29, Albania was liberated
from Nazi control (National Day). Germans withdrew from Tirana and
communists entered the capital.
(www, Albania, 1998)(MC, 11/29/01)
1944 Nov, In Albania Communists
established a provisional government with Enver Hoxha as prime
minister.
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.97)
1944 Dec, A Communist provisional
government adopted laws allowing state regulation of commercial
enterprises, foreign and domestic trade.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1944-1983 Enver Hoxha was the leader of the Balkan
nation of Albania. Hoxha, leader of a national liberation movement
during Italy's occupation of Albania in World War II, came to power
when the Communist insurgency seized control of the country in 1944,
beginning nearly 40 years of harsh Stalinist rule. Albania, which
borders on Greece and Yugoslavia, eventually broke with the Soviet
Union and later China over ideological issues and by the time of the
death of Hoxha in 1983 it had become one of the most politically and
socially isolated countries in the world.
(SFC, 5/29/96, p.A7)(HNQ, 1/29/99)
1945 Jan, The Albanian Communist
provisional government of Enver Hoxha agreed to restore Kosova to
Yugoslavia under Tito as an autonomous region; Yugoslav leaders brought
Kosova under marshal law. Tribunals began in Albania to condemn
thousands of "war criminals" and "enemies of the people" to death or
prison. The Communist regime began to nationalize industry,
transportation, forests, pastures.
(www, Albania, 1998)(WSJ, 4/2/99, p.A9)(SFC, 3/3/98,
p.A8)
1945 Dec, Elections were held for
the People's Assembly. Only members of the Democratic Front were
permitted to participate.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1946 Jul, Albania signed a treaty
of friendship with Yugoslavia; Yugoslav advisors and grain began
pouring into Albania.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1946 Oct, British destroyers hit
mines off Albania's coast. The United Nations and the International
Court of Justice condemned Albania.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1946 The People's Assembly
proclaimed Albania a "people's republic"; purges of non-communists from
government positions began. The People's Assembly adopted a new
constitution. Enver Hoxha became prime minister, defense minister,
foreign minister and commander-in-chief.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1947 Dec 28, Victor Emmanuel
(b.1869-1947), also known as Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy
(1900-1946), Emperor of Ethiopia (1939-1943) and King of Albania
(1939-1943), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_III_of_Italy)
1948 Jun, Cominform expelled
Yugoslavia; Albanian leaders launched an anti-Yugoslav propaganda
campaign, cut economic ties, and forced Yugoslav advisors to leave.
Later on the treaty of friendship with Yugoslavia was abrogated; Hoxha
began purging high-ranking party members accused of "Titoism"; Soviet
Union began economic aid to Albania.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1948 Nov, Communist Party of
Albania renamed itself the Party of Labor of Albania.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1948 Albanian Communist Party
leaders voted to merge Albanian and Yugoslav economies and militaries.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1949 Jun 10, In Albania Koci Xoxe,
former Communist vice-premier, and a number of other officials were
convicted as Yugoslav agents. Xoxe was executed on Jun 11. As arrests
continued large numbers of Albanians fled the country.
(EWH, 1968, p.1191)
1950 Feb 13, Albania recognized Ho
Chi Minh’s Vietnamese government, becoming the sixth Eastern bloc
country to do so.
(HN, 2/13/98)
1950 Britain and United States
inserted anti-Communist guerillas into Albania; all were unsuccessful.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1952 The Alba Films complex was
built to produce Communist propaganda.
(WSJ, 7/22/98, p.A6)
1955 May 14, Representatives from
eight Communist bloc countries: Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland & Romania, signed the
Warsaw Pact in Poland. Andras Hegedues signed for Hungary.
(AP, 5/14/97)(SFC, 10/26/99, p.B4)(MC, 5/14/02)
1960 Albania sided with China on
a Sino-Soviet ideological dispute; consequently Soviet economic support
was curtailed and Chinese aid was increased.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1961 Apr 9, Zog I (65), [Ahmed
Zogu], King of Albania (1925-39), died in exile in France. His son,
Leka Zogu, was sworn in as king by the government in exile.
(SFC, 6/27/97, p.A16)(MC, 4/9/02)
1961 Albanian leader Enver Hoxha
broke with Nikita Khrushchev over Khrushchev’s repudiation of Stalin’s
legacy. Diplomatic relations were severed and Soviet aid to Albania was
ended. For a time Albania found an ally in China.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1967 Hoxha regime conducted a
violent campaign to extinguish religious life in Albania; by year's end
over two thousand religious buildings were closed or converted to other
uses. Albania was declared "the world's first atheist country,"
religious leaders were imprisoned and executed.
(www, Albania, 1998)(USAT, 2/11/97, p.5A)(WA,
1997,CD)
1968 Sep 13, Albania officially
withdrew from the Warsaw Pact. Albania had condemned the August
Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.
(http://countrystudies.us/albania/153.htm)
1974 In Yugoslavia under Tito a
decentralized federal system allowed the Kosovo region to develop its
own security, judiciary, defense, foreign relations and social control.
Mahmut Bakalli drafted a constitution that gave the region a status
equivalent in most respects to the other republics of Yugoslavia.
(SFC, 3/3/98, p.A8)(SFC, 11/11/98, p.A16)(www,
Albania, 1998)(SFC, 3/27/99, p.A13)
1975 In Albania Enver Hoxha
embarked on a massive bunker building program.
(WSJ, 5/10/99, p.A1)
1976 Dec 28, In Albania the
People’s Assembly approved a new constitution and the country became a
"people's socialist republic."
(http://bjoerna.dk/dokumentation/Albanian-Constitution-1976.htm)
1978 Jul 7, China cut off all aid
to Albania after a dispute and left it completely isolated.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)(CO, GAAE/Albania)(www, Albania,
1998
1981 Mar 26, Police and Albanian
demonstrators battled in Kosovo.
(www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/8454/8454.ch01.html)
1981 Mar, Kosovar Albanian
students organized protests seeking that Kosovo become a Republic
within Yugoslavia. The protests were harshly contained by the
centralist Yugoslav and Serbian governments.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_in_Kosovo)
1985 Apr 11, Enver Hoxha (b.1908),
Albania’s Stalinist dictator, died. He was succeeded by Ramiz Alia
(b.1925).
(USAT, 2/11/97, p.A1)(SFC,10/21/97,
p.A13)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enver_Hoxha)
1987 Dec, Slobodan Milosevic, head
of a nationalist faction, staged a palace coup and purged Pres. Ivan
Stambolic over his moderate treatment of ethnic Albanians. Milosevic
had risen to power as head of Serbia’s Communist Party
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A14)(SFC, 12/27/96, p.B3)(SFC,
7/24/97, p.C3)
1989 Alia, addressing the Eighth
Plenum of the Central Committee, signaled that radical changes to the
economic system were necessary.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1989 The Milosevic regime in
Yugoslavia made constitutional changes to consolidate power over the
provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Kosovo, whose 1.9 million people are
90% Albanian, lost its autonomy and was placed under Serbian rule. The
constitution passed without the approval of the parliament of Kosova.
The Serbs fired most Albanians and closed many enterprises. Muslim
unrest followed and Kosovo was occupied. 90% of the population of
Kosovo was made up of some 2.2 million ethnic Albanians.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A14)(SFC, 5/11/96, p.A-10)(WSJ,
8/5/96, p.A13) (SFC,12/10/97, p.C2) (www, Albania,
1998)
1990 Jan, Demonstrations at
Shkodra forced authorities to declare a state of emergency.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1990 Jul, In Albania young people
demonstrated against the regime in Tirana, 5,000 citizens sought refuge
in foreign embassies. Delegates of the parliament of Kosova declared
the independence of Kosova from Serbia. Subsequently Serbia abolished
the parliament and government of Kosova, closed down the only Albanian
daily, and took over the state-owned television and radio. The
Albanians of Kosovo voted for sovereignty and elected a shadow
government that was banned by Milosevic. In 1992 Ibrahim Rugova
(1944-2006) was elected president and Fehmi Agani was the
vice-president.
(SFC,12/10/97, p.C2)(www, Albania, 1998)(Econ,
1/28/06, p.84)
1990 Aug, The government abandoned
its monopoly on foreign commerce and began to open Albania to foreign
trade.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1990 Nov, Private religious
practice began to be allowed.
(WA, 1997,CD)
1990 Dec 8, Tirana University
students demonstrated in the streets and called for the dictatorship to
end. Ramiz Alia met with the students 4 days later; a multiparty system
was introduced; the Democratic Party, the first opposition party was
established; the regime authorized political pluralism.
(www, Albania, 1998)(SFC, 12/18/00, p.E2)
1991 Jan, The first opposition
newspaper, Rilindja Demokratike, began publishing.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1991 Mar 31, Albania offered a
multi-party election for the first time in 50 years. The Labor Party
won over 67 percent of votes, while the Democratic Party won around 30
percent.
(HN, 3/31/98)(www, Albania, 1998)
1991 Apr, Alia was reelected as
President. The Assembly passed a law on Major Constitutional Provisions
which provided for fundamental human rights and separation of powers
and invalidated the 1976 constitution.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1991 Jun 22, An estimated 200,000
Albanians turned out in the capital Tirana to cheer visiting US
Secretary of State James Baker.
(AP, 6/22/01)
1991 Jun, Prime Minister Fatos
Nano and the rest of the cabinet resigned after trade unions called for
a general strike to protest worsening economic conditions and the
killing of opposition demonstrators in Shkodra. The Party of Labor was
renamed to Socialist Party of Albania. Albania was accepted as a full
member of the CSCE.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1991 Aug, Albania’s People's
Assembly passed a law allowing private ownership, foreign investment
and private employment of workers. Some 18,000 Albanians crossed the
Adriatic to seek asylum in Italy, but most were returned.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1991 Sep, A referendum was held in
Kosova. Over 90 percent of voters voted for independence.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1991 Dec, The Democratic Party
withdrew ministers after accusing communists of blocking reform. Alia
set up a new government headed by Vilson Ahmeti and set March 1992 for
new elections.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1991 Archbishop Anastasios (61)
was sent to Albania by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to
report on the country's religious situation.
(SSFC, 7/27/03, Par p.4)
1991 As Communism fell apart
thousands of Albanians fled their country. They crossed the Adriatic in
boats to seek asylum in Italy. Lawlessness and unrest gripped the
country. Half the population was unemployed.
(CO, Grolier’s/ Albania)
1991 Italian authorities allowed
several ships with about 25,000 Albanians into the port of Bari. When
another wave of immigrants showed up a few months later the policy was
reversed and they were sent back home.
(NG, 5/93, p.104)
1992 Jan 31,The first Miss Albania
was crowned.
(HFA, '96, p.22)
1992 Mar, In Albania the
Democratic Party of Sali Berisha was elected with 92 of a 140 seats in
the legislature in the midst of economic freefall and social chaos.
Restoration of the economy and political system was a major task and
foreign assistance was required to maintain the food supply. Berisha, a
cardiologist, was elected president.
(CO, Grolier’s / Albania)(USAT, 2/11/97, p.A1)(www,
Albania, 1998)
1992 Mar, Elections were held in
Kosova; the Democratic League of Kosova won the majority of votes; the
elections were called illegal by the Serbian regime.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1992 Sep, Former President Alia
and eighteen other former communist officials, including Nexhmije
Hoxha, wife of late dictator Hoxha, were arrested and charged with
corruption and other offenses.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1992 The US set up a new Embassy
in Tirana and sheltered CIA agents.
(WSJ, 11/20/01, p.A10)
1992-1999 A fifth of the population left Albania.
Most moved to Western Europe to live as undocumented aliens.
(SFC, 5/11/99, p.A6)
1994 Former president Ramiz Alia,
successor of Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha, was sentenced to 9 years
in prison for abuse of power. He was later freed on amnesty and then
re-arrested on new charges. He fled the country in Mar, 1997.
(SFC,10/21/97, p.A13)
1994 Pres. Sali Berisha drafted a
constitution that required the head of the Orthodox Church to be born
in Albania and live there for 20 years. It was defeated in a referendum.
(SSFC, 7/27/03, Par p.4)
1996 Feb 26, A car bomb in Albania
killed 5 people and wounded 30 outside a supermarket in the center of
Tirana. Two former senior officials of the disbanded Communist era
secret police were arrested shortly after the blast.
(WSJ, 2/27/96, p.A-1)
1996 May 27, Opposition parties
accused the ruling democrats of election irregularities and pulled out
of the parliamentary voting process.
(SFC, 5/27/96, p.A7)
1996 May 28, Sali Berisha, Pres.
of Albania, banned an opposition rally. Many who defied the ban were
seriously beaten. Berisha was supported by Washington for discouraging
the Albanian majority in Kosovo from demanding autonomy from
Yugoslavia. He also allowed American military planes to access Albanian
air bases.
(SFC, 5/29/96, p.A7)
1996 Jun 20, In Albania a court
convicted 3 top ex-Communist officials for deporting more than 70
dissidents when they headed regional Communist administrations. The
European Parliament urged Albania to hold another vote due to balloting
irregularities in the May 26 and June 2 elections.
(SFC, 6/21/96, p.A14)(SFC, 6/22/96, p.A13)
1996 Jul 5, Vital exports from
Vlora, Albania, was sending 6 tons a week of live frogs to Lyon,
France. “But how long will this resource last?”
(SFC, 7/5/96, p.A12)
1996 Aug 8, Hourly wages were
listed at $0.37 per hour.
(WSJ, 8/8/96, p.A10)
1996 Oct 21, The ruling Democratic
Party claimed a landslide victory in local elections.
(SFC, 10/22/96, p.B1)
1996 Nov 7, Former Communist
secret policemen were blamed for a bomb that injured a top judge and
his daughter. The attack came after an appeals court upheld prison
sentences against 9 officials of the former Communist regime.
(WSJ, 11/7/96, p.A1)
1996 Dec, The first
anti-government protests due to the collapse of investment funds were
staged in Skanderbeg Square in Tirana.
(SFC, 3/17/97, p.C1)
1997 Jan 19, In Albania, riot
police beat demonstrators demanding restitution for money lost in
pyramid schemes. Some 20 deposit-collecting companies had come to
dominate the economy under Berisha's rule. Some $1.2 billion in
Albanians' savings was wiped out.
(AP, 1/19/98)(WSJ, 4/2/99, p.A9)
1997 Jan 25, In Lushnja thousands
of people lost money in pyramid investment schemes and took to the
streets in protest. Some one million Kalashnikov rifles were stolen
from government depots.
(SFEC, 1/26/97, p.A14)(SFC, 7/26/97, p.A12)
1997 Mar 1, Albania’s Pres. Sali
Berisha said that his cabinet ministers would resign and be replaced by
leaders acceptable to the opposition .
(SFEC, 3/2/97, p.A14)
1997 Mar 2, A state of emergency
with a curfew, press censorship and police orders to kill was declared
in Albania and at least 4 demonstrators were killed in Vlora in clashes
with police.
(SFEC, 3/3/97, p.A12)(WSJ, 3/5/97, p.A14)
1997 Mar 4, Two Albanian air force
pilots diverted their MiG-15 fighter to southern Italy after being
ordered to fire on civilians. Tanks were reported in Gjirokastra and in
Vlore, the hotel complex owned by Vefa, the biggest investment scheme
still officially intact, was destroyed along with 6 factories.
(SFC, 3/5/97, p.A8)
1997 Mar 9, Albania’s Pres. Sali
Berisha proposed a new government of reconciliation to represent all
political parties and offered to set new elections.
(SFC, 3/10/97, p.A8)
1997 Mar 14, Chaos and anarchy
spread and some 23 people were reported killed across the country. The
US and Italy were airlifting citizens out of the country. Near the
Macedonian border a $10 million cigarette plant was burned down.
(SFC, 3/15/97, p.A10)
1997 Mar 16, Amnesty was granted
to 51 people including former premier Fatos Nano.
(SFC, 3/18/97, p.A11)
1997 Mar 28, The UN Security
Council agreed to send a multinational force to Albania to protect the
delivery of humanitarian aid.
(SFC, 3/29/97, p.A10)
1997 Mar 29, Italian rescue
workers searched the waters for survivors of a collision of an Albanian
patrol boat packed with Albanians and an Italian Navy ship. Arguments
raged as to who was at fault and there were 4 confirmed deaths.
Albanian prime minister Bashkim Fino demanded an investigation.
(SFEC, 3/30/97, p.A18)
1997 Apr 30, A huge blast killed
22 Albanians in the village of Selize. They were stripping the bronze
casings of mortar shells stored in a cave.
(SFC, 5/1/97, p.A13)
1997 Jun 12, Violence broke out in
Elbasan and 13 people were injured during a campaign stop by Pres.
Berisha.
(SFC, 6/13/97, p.A14)
1997 Jun 26, Gunmen fired at the
presidential motorcade of Pres. Berisha, who was on a campaign rally.
Three guards were wounded. Nearly 1500 people have been killed since
March when protests over the failed pyramid schemes turned into armed
rebellion.
(SFC, 6/27/97, p.A12)
1997 Jun 29, The rival
ex-Communists claimed to have beaten Pres. Berisha in the elections.
Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano claimed his leftist coalition had won
73 of 115 contested seats. Early returns on a referendum showed voters
favoring the return of would-be-king Leka Zogu. Later results showed
that the referendum was defeated by a 2:1 margin.
(WSJ, 6/30/97, p.A1)(SFC, 7/1/97, p.A10)(SFC,
7/4/97, p.A12)
1997 Jul 6, Three people died as
the 2nd round of elections were completed. The Socialist gained 12 more
seats versus 5 more for the Democrats.
(SFC, 7/7/97, p.A10)
1997 Jul 24, In Albania a 5-month
long curfew was lifted and Rexhep Mejdani, the secretary-general of the
Socialist Party and former physics professor, was elected President by
the Parliament. Since Jan. some 1,800 killings had occurred.
(SFC, 7/25/97, p.A11)
1997 Jul 25, In Albania the new
Socialist led government was sworn in while a gang battle in Berat left
10 people dead.
(SFC, 7/26/97, p.A14)
1997 Aug 12, It was reported that
the last Italian peacekeeping troops left but that some Greek troops
were still based near Tirana.
(SFC, 8/12/97, p.A1)
1997 Sep 5, In India Mother Teresa
(b.1910), the Calcutta nun who worked on behalf of the destitute, died
of heart failure in Calcutta. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II broke the
royal reticence over Princess Diana's death, calling her "a remarkable
person" in a televised address. In 2003 Albania declared 2004 to be
"Mother Teresa Year" and set aside Oct. 19 as a national holiday in her
honor. "It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you
... yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer
him your hand."
(SFC, 9/6/97, p.A1)(AP, 9/5/98)(AP, 9/12/03)
1997 Sep 6, Albania’s Socialist
government dismissed 17 generals.
(WSJ, 9/8/97, p.A16)
1997 Sep 18, In Albania a
Socialist lawmaker shot and wounded a rival from the opposition
Democrats inside the parliament building.
(WSJ, 9/19/97, p.A1)
1997 Oct, In Albania Fatos Nano of
the Socialist Party was named Prime Minister.
(SFC, 3/17/98, p.B2)
1998 Jan 23, Troops stormed into
Shkorda to end 2 days of looting and burnings. Rioters were demanding
the release from jail of 2 men loyal to former Pres. Berisha. Berisha
denounced the violence and ties to the jailed men.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A10)
1998 Apr 22, Yugoslavian (Serbian)
troops claimed to have killed 23 ethnic Albanian infiltrators in the
border region in Kosovo.
(SFC, 4/24/98, p.A16)
1998 Apr, Ilir Konushevci, a KLA
commander, was ambushed and killed outside Tropoja in northern Albania.
He had recently accused Xhavit Haliti, a lieutenant of Hashim Thaci, of
buying grenades for $2 and selling them to the KLA for $7.
(SFC, 6/25/99, p.A12)
1998 May 28, NATO Ministers agreed
to help Albania and Macedonia strengthen their border patrols.
(SFC, 5/29/98, p.A16)
1998 Jun 25, Albanian security
personnel (SHIK) under CIA guidance arrested Shawki Salama Attiya, a
Tirana cell forger. Over the next month they made a successful raids on
more suspected members of the Egyptian Jihad terrorist organization.
The suspected terrorists were turned over to anti-terrorist officials
in Egypt, where they delivered forced confessions following torture.
(SFC, 8/13/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 11/20/01, p.A1)
1998 Aug 6, NATO set exercises in
Albania for Aug 17-22 to show force against the Serb offensive in
Kosovo.
(WSJ, 8/7/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 17, NATO forces began a
5-day exercise in Albania as a threat to Serbia.
(WSJ, 8/18/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 12, Democratic Party
leader Azem Hajdari was assassinated
(WSJ, 9/14/98, p.A1)(USAT, 9/15/98, p.12A)
1998 Sep 13, Opposition supporters
burned the Tirana office of Premier Nanos and sent the prime minister
and his cabinet fleeing.
(SFC, 9/14/98, p.A12)
1998 Sep 14, In Albania fighting
continued in Tirana. Anti-government protestors stormed public
buildings and 3 Berisha supporters were killed in a counter-attack.
(WSJ, 9/15/98, p.A1)(USAT, 9/15/98, p.12A)(SFC,
9/15/98, p.A6)
1998 Sep 15, Sali Berisha
surrendered 2 tanks posted outside his headquarters following threats
of force. The government declared the unrest an attempted coup and
ordered a criminal investigation.
(SFC, 9/16/98, p.A11)
1998 Sep 28, In Albania Prime
Minister Fatos Nano resigned following 2 weeks of rioting. Pandeli
Majko (31), general secretary of the Socialist Party, was the party’s
candidate for prime minister. The opposition called for an interim
government and new elections.
(SFC, 9/29/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 9/30/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov 22, In Albania the
Socialist government claimed to win a referendum on the nation’s first
post-Communist constitution.
(WSJ, 11/23/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov 27, A boat of illegal
immigrants from Albania sank off the coast of Italy and at least 3
people were killed including a 1-year-old child. 4 people were missing
from the boat that carried 17.
(SFC, 11/28/98, p.A10)
1998 Dec 3, Yugoslav border guards
killed 8 ethnic Albanians as they tried to cross the border into Kosovo.
(WSJ, 12/3/98, p.A1)
1998 Noel Malcolm published
“Kosovo: A Short History,” a history of the troubled region and
Albania. Malcolm earlier wrote “Bosnia: A Short History.”
(WSJ, 5/5/98, p.A20)(SFEC, 9/6/98, BR p.8)
1999 Feb, Clan leaders in Vlore
boasted that two-thirds of all automobiles in Albania were stolen.
(SFC, 5/11/99, p.A6)
1999 Mar 29, Albania and Macedonia
appealed for help as thousands of refugees fled Kosovo on the 6th day
of bombing. NATO said Serbs were targeting ethnic Albanian leadership
for executions and the US accused Milosevic of "crimes against
humanity."
(WSJ, 3/30/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 1, Pres. Rexhep Meidani
said NATO should help Kosovo seize independence.
(WSJ, 4/2/99, p.A9)
1999 Apr 2, Hashim Thaci, a
leading nationalist politician, named a new government with himself in
charge. Moderates loyal to Ibrahim Rugova were excluded after no
candidates were put forth.
(SFC, 4/3/99, p.A6)
1999 Apr 4, NATO dropped more
bombs on downtown Belgrade and said that it would send some 8,000
troops into Albania to help Kosovo refugees. The Freedom Bridge over
the Danube at Novi Sad was destroyed. The US announced that it would
send 24 Apache helicopter gunships to attack Serbian troops and tanks
in Kosovo. Some 30,000 refugees crossed into Albania in the last
24-hour period.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A1,12)(SFC, 4/5/99, p.A1,10)
1999 Apr 7, In Albania the Israeli
government set up a hospital about this time at the Brazde refugee
camp, home to some 25,000 refugees.
(SFC, 4/14/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 11, Albania decided to
hand over control of its airspace, ports and military infrastructure to
NATO and to accept more NATO troops.
(SFC, 4/12/99, p.A17)
1999 Apr 14, Some 3,000 refugees
reached the border of Macedonia and another 7,000 were expected.
Another 3,000 arrived in Albania. An estimated 18,000 were making their
way to Montenegro. Over the last 3 weeks 305,000 arrived in Albania,
121,000 in Macedonia, and 61,000 in Montenegro.
(SFC, 4/15/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 16, It was reported that
Albanian bandits were victimizing refugees and had robbed border
monitors and foreign journalists at gunpoint.
(SFC, 4/16/99, p.A18)
1999 Apr 16, Thousands of refugees
poured out of Kosovo as NATO blasted oil refineries, military barracks
and airports around Yugoslavia. At least 5,000 refugees crossed into
Macedonia, and 8,000 into Albania. Some 100,000 were believed to be
enroute to Macedonia.
(SFC, 4/17/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 20, NATO bombing
continued in Yugoslavia. The UN refugee agency in Macedonia declared
its camps full beyond capacity and left 2,000 to 3,000 refugees at the
border. Another few thousand crossed the border to the hamlet of
Milana. The border with Albania was again opened but only a few crossed
over.
(SFC, 4/21/99, p.A1,10)
1999 Apr 30, The AP reported that
almost every journalist who had gone to the refugee camp at Bajram
Curri was robbed.
(SFC, 5/11/99, p.A6)
1999 May 4, Allied forces bombed
fixed and mobile targets and downed a Yugoslav MigG-29. The US
considered freeing 2 prisoners of war and another 5,000 refugees
crossed into Albania.
(SFC, 5/5/99, p.A12)
1999 May 5, Two US crew members
were killed when an Apache helicopter crashed in Albania during
training. Chief Warrant Officer David A. Gibbs (38), of Massillon,
Ohio, and Chief Warrant Officer Kevin L. Reichert (28), of Chetek,
Wis., crashed in a mountainous region 50 miles from Task Force Hawk
base.
(SFC, 5/5/99, p.A1)(SFC, 5/6/99, p.A10)
1999 May 8, An estimated 7,500
Kosovars crossed the border into Albania.
(SFEC, 5/9/99, p.A17)
1999 Jun 26, In southern Serbia 3
Albanian-American brothers Illy, Mehmet and Agron Bytyqi, strayed
outside of Kosovo's unmarked boundary and were arrested. They spent 15
days in a Serb jail for illegally crossing the border. Upon their
release they were taken by two Serb policemen to a training camp in
eastern Serbia, where they were summarily executed. In 2001 their
bodies were found bound and blindfolded in a trash-filled mass grave
near the training camp’s fence. They had left their New York pizza
business in 1999 to join Kosovo rebels fighting for secession from
Serbia. In 2009 a Serbian war crimes court acquitted two former Serb
policemen of collaborating in the execution-style slaying.
(AP, 6/11/09)(AP, 9/22/09)
1999 Oct 25, In Albania Prime
Minister Pandeli Majko planned to resign due to his loss to become the
Socialist Party leader earlier in the month.
(SFC, 10/26/99, p.B2)
1999 Dec 30-1999 Dec 31, A rubber
raft with some 59 refugees capsized while trying to cross the Adriatic
between Albania and Italy. One body was found in Jan.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A14)
1999 In 2008 Carla Del Ponte,
former chief prosecutor at The Hague, alleged in a book that some
100-300 Kosovo Serbs were kidnapped this year and taken to Albania to
have their organs harvested. UN investigators found no substantial
evidence to support claims that ethnic Albanian guerrillas killed
dozens of Serbs in Kosovo and sold their organs.
(WSJ, 4/12/08, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/14/08, p.A13)(AP,
4/16/08)
2000 Nov 29, In Albania police
made a brief arrest of President Sali Berisha the day after a riot in
Tropoja where 2 people were killed.
(SFC, 11/30/00, p.C7)
2001 Jun 24, Albania parliamentary
elections were marred by violent incidents. The ruling Socialists
claimed victory. The Socialists won 41.5 percent and 73 seats, while
the Democrats had 36.8 percent and 46 seats.
(WSJ, 6/25/01, p.A1)(AP, 7/3/05)
2002 Jan 29, Albania’s PM Ilir
Meta (32) resigned following months of disputes with party leaders.
(SFC, 1/30/02, p.A9)
2002 Jun 24, Alfred Moisiu, a
72-year-old retired general and former defense minister, was elected
president of Albania by a comfortable majority in parliament. He was
the only candidate.
(AP, 6/24/02)
2002 Oct 22, Geraldine of Albania
(87), the wife of King Zog (d.1961), died in Tirana.
(SFC, 10/28/02, p.A17)
2003 Oct 27, UN police and
NATO-led peacekeepers near Pristina, Serbia, arrested 5 former ethnic
Albanian rebels for alleged war crimes in Kosovo.
(AP, 10/28/03)
2004 Jan 9, An inflatable
speedboat packed with Albanian migrants trying to sneak into Italy sank
in up to 20-foot high waves and strong winds off Albania's coast,
killing 21 people.
(AP, 1/10/04)
2004 Feb 21, In Albania some 6-20
thousand people marched in Tirana in opposition to PM Fatos Nano and
his Socialist-led government.
(SSFC, 2/22/04, p.A3)
2004 Mar 20, NATO-led forces
surrounded Kosovska Mitrovica in efforts to separate ethnic Albanians
and Serbs and prevent a resurgence of attacks that killed 28 people and
wounded 600. Ethnic Albanians looted villages and apartments abandoned
by Serb civilians. Some 110 homes and at least 16 Serb Orthodox
churches were destroyed by arson.
(AP, 3/20/04)(Econ, 9/11/04, p.47)
2004 Dec 7, The mayor of Albania's
capital Tirana, painter Edi Rama (40), was elected "World Mayor 2004"
in an Internet competition organized by a London-based NGO.
(AFP, 12/7/04)
2004 Dec 28, Albania, Bulgaria and
Macedonia gave political support to a $1.2 billion private trans-Balkan
pipeline that will allow Russian and Caspian crude oil to avoid Turkish
waters.
(WSJ, 12/29/04, p.A7)
2005 Mar 31, A US C-130 airplane
crashed near the remote village of Rovie and all 9 Americans onboard
were killed in mountainous southern Albania during a joint exercise.
(AP, 4/1/05)
2005 Apr 7, Riza Malaj (34),
Albania's most wanted man, blew himself about this time up while
fishing with dynamite. He lost both hands, badly hurt his eyes and
suffered serious wounds all over his body while trying to catch trout.
(AP, 4/11/05)
2005 Jun 3, Albanian novelist
Ismail Kadare (69) won the first international version of Britain's
prestigious Man Booker literary prize. Kadare became famous in his
homeland with the 1963 publication of his first novel, "The General of
the Dead Army." His other works include "The Concert," and "The Palace
of Dreams."
(AP, 6/3/05)
2005 Jul 3, Albanians held
elections for a new parliament.
(AP, 7/3/05)
2005 Jul 5, Albania's opposition
party headed by Sali Berisha, the country's former president
(1992-1997), took the lead in parliamentary elections, but foreign
monitors criticized the vote as falling short of international
standards.
(AP, 7/5/05)(Econ, 7/25/05, p.43)
2005 Sep 1, Opposition leader Sali
Berisha's coalition was officially declared winner of Albania's July 3
parliamentary elections, following weeks of delays in confirming final
results.
(AP, 9/1/05)
2005 Oct, Albania signed a
European Commission energy treaty in Athens meant to promote
co-operation by setting up a regional energy market.
(Econ, 1/7/06, p.43)
2005 Nov 1, Albania's armed forces
chief said their antiquated air force of Soviet-designed MiG aircraft,
which killed 35 Albanian pilots but no enemies, is finally on its way
to the museum and the scrapheap.
(Reuters, 11/1/05)
2005 Nov-2005 Dec, In Albania
daily power cuts lasted as long as 18 hours.
(Econ, 1/7/06, p.43)
2006 Feb 20, UN mediated talks on
the future status of Kosovo opened in Vienna as Serbs and ethnic
Albanians staked out tough positions. The talks produced no agreement
and were scheduled to resume in a month.
(AP, 2/21/06)
2006 Mar 17, In Vienna, Austria,
ethnic Albanian and Serbian officials laid out their demands at
UN-mediated talks on the future of Kosovo, one of the most intractable
disputes left over from the disintegration of Yugoslavia.
(AP, 3/17/06)
2006 May 5, The US State
Department disclosed that Albania has agreed to take in five Chinese,
ethnic Uighur detainees, held at Guantanamo Bay. They were flown to
Albania the next day.
(AP, 5/5/06)(WSJ, 5/6/06, p.A1)
2006 May 7, Vice President Dick
Cheney endorsed the NATO membership aspirations of Croatia, Albania and
Macedonia.
(AP, 5/7/06)
2007 Feb 18, Albanians went to the
polls in municipal elections. Allegations of vote-rigging flared within
a few hours of polls opening, as the opposition accused PM Sali
Berisha's Democratic Party of releasing false identity documents to
allow some supporters to vote repeatedly. In Tirana Interior Minister
Sokol Olldashi (34) faced Socialist Party leader and city mayor, Edi
Rama (42).
(AP, 2/18/07)
2007 Jun 10, President Bush in
Albania, the 1st visit there by an American president, said the UN
should grant independence quickly to the breakaway Serbian province of
Kosovo, and that if Russia continued to block it the West would act.
Albania issued three postage stamps with Bush's picture and the Statue
of Liberty, renamed a street in front of parliament in his honor,
awarded him the highest National Flag medal and Fushe Kruje town
council also declared him an honored citizen.
(Reuters, 6/10/07)(AP, 6/12/07)
2007 Jul 24, Bamir Topi (50), a
biologist, was sworn in as Albania's president, promising to help the
poor Balkan country to become a member of NATO and the European Union.
Topi was elected to a five-year term by parliament on July 20 after
some opposition lawmakers ended their coalition's boycott and supported
his appointment.
(AP, 7/25/07)(Econ, 8/18/07, p.43)
2007 Aug 18, It was reported that
Albanian migrants sent home almost $1 billion a year to support jobless
family members and to build homes. New business was said to be
discouraged by blackmail and intimidation from existing firms with
licenses going to political cronies in the face of a corrupt judiciary.
(Econ, 8/18/07, p.46)
2007 Oct 3, Four former officials
of Albania's state-controlled oil company, Albpetrol, were arrested on
suspicion of theft and abuse of office.
(AP, 10/4/07)
2008 Mar 6, In Albania a boat
carrying partygoers celebrating the birthday of 5-year-old twins sank
just after midnight in a lake near the capital, killing 16 people,
including the two children.
(AP, 3/6/08)
2008 Mar 15, In Albania 26 people,
including several children, were killed and over 250 injured by a
series of large explosions at an army base on the outskirts of the
capital Tirana. The explosions began when workers were moving stocks of
old Chinese and Soviet shells stored at the base. Some workers were
repackaging 40-year-old Chinese-made shells to disguise their origin.
In September Kosta Trebicka, a businessman turned whistle-blower, was
killed when his jeep crashed on a remote mountain road.
(Reuters, 3/16/08)(AP, 3/18/08)(Econ, 10/11/08, p.71)
2008 Sep 4, Albanian artist Saimir
Strati in Tirana glued 229,764 corks of various shapes and colors over
a plastic banner measuring 12.94 meters by 7.1 meters to make the art
piece "Romeo with a crown of grapes playing the guitar while dancing
with the sea and the sun". He worked 14 hours a day for 28 days to
complete his project.
(Reuters, 9/4/08)
2008 Dec 3, NATO foreign ministers
affirmed their support for US plans to install anti-missile defenses in
Europe despite Russia's strong opposition. NATO foreign ministers said
they expected Albania and Croatia to become the alliance's newest
members by April.
(AP, 12/3/08)
2008 Dec 18, Albania's Defense
Ministry said the country is pulling its 218 troops out of Iraq.
(AP, 12/18/08)
2008 Dec 22, Albania passed a law
removing from public posts people linked with the feared former
Communist secret police, despite criticism from opposition parties and
concerns within the international community.
(AP, 12/23/08)
2009 Jan 28, Albania awarded a
35-year concession to the British-Swiss Zumax AG group for a euro1.18
billion ($1.55 billion) container terminal for ships in southwestern
Albania.
(AP, 1/28/09)
2009 Feb 22, In Greece Vassilis
Palaiokostas (44) and his Albanian accomplice Alket Rizaj staged a 2nd
getaway by helicopter. Palaiokostas was serving a sentence for robbery
and kidnapping when he first escaped with Rizaj in 2006 in a
helicopter. On Nov 16 Alket Rizaj was arrested with a female companion
at an isolated house near the town of Marathon.
(AP, 2/23/09)(AP, 11/16/09)
2009 Apr 1, Albania and Croatia
became NATO’s newest members.
(SFC, 4/2/09, p.A2)
2009 May 2, In Albania Fatmir
Xhindi (49), a lawmaker from the main opposition Socialist Party, was
shot and killed outside his home in Roskovec. Albania ended communist
rule in 1990, but has struggled since then with high unemployment,
widespread corruption, dilapidated infrastructure and organized crime.
(AP, 5/2/09)
2009 May, Chikungunya, a
mosquito-born virus endemic to propical Africa and Asia, was reported
to have arrived in Albania and Italy.
(Econ, 5/23/09, p.83)
2009 Jun 18, In northern Albania
an explosive device killed Aleksander Keka (34), a conservative
regional leader of Albania's opposition Christian Democratic Party, as
he drove near Shkodra, 10 days ahead of the country's parliamentary
election.
(AP, 6/18/09)
2009 Jun 28, Albanians voted in
parliamentary elections seen as a crucial test of democracy to prove
the Balkan country is ready for EU membership. The governing Democratic
Party and the opposition Socialist Party were neck-and-neck in
pre-election polls. PM Berisha’s Democrats won 68 seats and allies won
2 seats in the 140-seat parliament.
(AP, 6/28/09)(SFC, 6/29/09, p.A2)(SFC, 7/27/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 29, Representatives of a
500-member team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) said that despite improvement Albania has not complied
with international standards in its parliamentary elections dues to the
politicization of the process and the political mistrust.
(AP, 6/29/09)
2009 Jul 1, Albania's governing
Democrats claimed they won weekend parliamentary elections, but the
opposition Socialists accused PM Sali Berisha's party of attempting to
snatch victory. Near complete results showed the Democrats were ahead
by just over one percentage point. It was unclear whether Berisha had
secured enough seats in parliament needed to govern alone.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 4, Albania's opposition
Socialists charged that the ruling Democrats were improperly trying to
influence the country's lengthy vote count by declaring victory before
all ballots from last week's national election were tallied.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Dec 2, Albania’s PM Sali
Berisha announced an agreement to accept former Guantanamo detainees
following talks with special envoy Daniel Fried.
(SFC, 12/3/09, p.A2)
2010 Feb 24, The US got help from
Europe in its troubled drive to shut down Guantanamo Bay, as Spain
accepted a former inmate from the prison for terror suspects and the
tiny Balkan nation of Albania took in three more.
(AP, 2/24/10)
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