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bne June 2019 Southeast Europe I 41
calls for an early election. His Socialists increased their share of the vote in June 2017. The landslide result allowed the Socialists to form a government alone, without their former coalition partner, the Socialist Movement for Integration.
Under Rama’s first government, Albania secured EU candidate country status, and the prime minister has also sought to tackle graft and clean up the energy sector. However, accusations of links to the drugs trade continue to be levelled at the government.
The increasingly violent protests come as Tirana is seeking to get the nod for the start of EU accession negotiations.
The violence has dismayed Albania’s international partners. Before the latest rally, the British embassy in Tirana urged the opposition to hold peaceful protest and avoid violence. At the same time the embassy condemned the violence during the previous protest
on May 11, which also turned violent,
resulting in injuries for a dozen police officers and numerous protesters.
The Italian Embassy in Tirana called on opposition leaders to condemn violence
We call on all political leaders and
on the citizens of Albania to show responsibility, demonstrate peacefully, and act with restraint. The OSCE will continue to support the democratic
“The increasingly violent protests come as Tirana is seeking to start its EU accession negotiations”
and ensure that future protests be peaceful and stay within the legal framework.
Meanwhile the OSCE faced a backlash for its appeal to the opposition to
avoid violence, as its premises were targeted on May 11 by demonstrators who gathered outside the building
and daubed “Borchardt shame on you” on the wall – a message to the OSCE Ambassador to Tirana, Bernd Borchardt.
“Riots are not a substitute for democratic political engagement. They cut off any chance of dialogue – and therefore any chance of finding common ground.
process in Albania,” said a statement from the body.
Yet it also warned of potential conse- quences should the political crisis in the country continue.
“A protraction of the crisis would inevitably hamper Albania’s domestic and foreign strategic priorities. Time has come to devise a domestic platform for dialogue which includes all relevant stakeholders, including all parties, civil society and academia, to overcome dif- ferences and work together in Albania's best interest,” the statement said.
Montenegrin court finds opposition leaders guilty of plotting coup
Denitsa Koseva in So a
The higher court of Montenegro found two opposition leaders, two Russians and several Serbs and Montenegrins guilty of plotting a coup in the “Trial of the century”, and sentenced them to jail in the first instance, provok- ing anger among the opposition.
Prosecutors said the plot was intended to help the pro-Russian opposition Democratic Front (DF) to seize power in Montenegro on the night of the Octo- ber 2016 general election and either imprison or assassinate the country’s
then prime minister (now president) Milo Djukanovic, with the help of Rus- sian security services members and Serbian paramilitaries.
All those indicted were found guilty
of plotting to commit terrorist acts and undermine the constitutional order of Montenegro during the general election in October 2016.
Two Russians who were accused of organising the plot, Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov, who are believed
to be members of the Russian security services, GRU, were given the heaviest sentences of 15 and 12 years in prison in absentia.
Two of the leaders of the DF, Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic, got five years in prison each.
Former Serbian police commander Bratislav Dikic was sentenced to eight years in prison, while two other Serbian citizens, Nemanja Ristic and Predrag Bogicevic, received sentences of eight and seven years in absentia.
Six other defendants received shorter jail term terms. The 14th indictee, Ananije Nikic who received asylum
“People he hired provided Kalashnikov machine guns for the plotters”
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