Page 13 - SE Outlook Regions 2023

KAP in Montenegro.

Agriculture has been hit by a double-whammy of higher prices of inputs,
notably fuel and fertilisers, and drought linked to climate change. The
worst drought in 500 years affected large parts of Europe in 2022, and
droughts, flooding and other extreme climate events are only expected
to increase in the coming years. Southeast Europe is seen as a climate
change hotspot, with temperatures forecast to increase by well above
the global average.

On a more positive note, as Southeast European states seek to
diversify their energy mix numerous new renewables projects have
been launched or are in the pipeline. This is despite a temporary
increase in coal-fired power production prompted by high gas and
electricity prices.

1.0 Political outlook

1.1 Politics - Albania

2023 takes Albania to halfway through the current parliamentary term.
The local elections scheduled for May 14 will provide a test for Prime
Minister Edi Rama’s ruling Socialist Party — and show whether the
opposition parties have made any progress in winning back voters.

The Socialists won an unprecedented third consecutive term in the April
2021 general election. At the time, Rama outlined plans for his third
term in office, including large-scale infrastructure investments,
completing reconstruction after the 2019 earthquake and digitisation of
public services.

Albania’s main opposition party, the Democratic Party, was torn apart
internally in 2021-22 after its failure to make headway against the
Socialists in the 2021 general election. This prompted former leader
Sali Berisha to wrest control of the party from its then head Lulzim
Basha. The power struggle between the two — which ended in a victory
for Berisha — included a storming of the party’s own headquarters by
Berisha’s supporters in January 2022.

Both current and former leaders have been mired by controversy.
Berisha is on the US sanctions blacklist, accused of involvement in
“significant corruption”. More recently, Basha was accused of accepting
Russian money while at the helm of the Democratic Party.

The third-largest party in Albania, former president Ilir Meta’s Freedom

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