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the Democratic Party from its former leader, Lulzim Basha. Berisha has the backing of rank and file members of the party, but was fiercely resisted by a number of senior figures, which led to the fragmentation of the party.
This has left the opposition unable to offer a credible alternative to Rama’s Socialists, further cementing his control of the country’s political scene.
2024 will see both sides positioning themselves for the next general election, due to take place in 2025. It is not clear if Rama will seek a fourth term at the helm of the Socialist Party; he hinted in 2023 that he is still considering whether to continue in politics.
Meanwhile, Rama has become an increasingly prominent figure in the international area, where Albania’s main goal is to advance towards EU membership, having been given the go-ahead to start accession talks in 2022.
Albania now faces new obstacles in its quest for EU accession due to a dispute with neighbouring Greece over the arrest of Fredi Beleri, the ethnic-Greek mayor of the city of Himara. Athens is threatening to block Albania if it does not release Beleri, while Tirana insists justice must take its course.
Albania is a Nato member, a staunch supporter of Ukraine and was quick to impose sanctions on Russia. In September, Rama made headlines around the world for his public rebuke of Russian ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia at a tense session of the United Nations Security Council.
A controversial deal with Italy’s right-wing government under which Albania will temporarily host thousands of migrants heading for Italy while their applications are processed has been met with strong opposition within Albania, as well as from the Italian opposition and international rights groups.
1.2 Politics - Bosnia & Herzegovina
After a bumpy 2023, Bosnia & Herzegovina is facing a challenging new year with even more difficult problems to tackle.
Last year, Bosnia’s politicians managed to set up ruling coalitions at state and entity level just three months after the general election in October 2022, which, compared to the two years the process took the previous time, was a record. Moreover, the majority of ministers in the state-level government, as well as Prime Minister Borjana Kristo, are pro-Western and keen to speed up Bosnia’s reforms agenda so that the country can finally start EU membership talks.
9 SE Outlook 2024 www.intellinews.com