Timeline Albania
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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)
1878 Mar 3, Russia and the
Ottomans signed the Treaty of San Stefano, granting independence to
Serbia. With the Treaty of San Stefano (and subsequent negotiations
in Berlin) in the wake of the last Russo-Turkish War, the Ottoman
Empire lost its possession of numerous territories including
Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia. The Russo-Turkish wars
dated to the 17th century, the Russians generally gaining territory
and influence over the declining Ottoman Empire. In the last war,
Russia and Serbia supported rebellions in the Balkans. In concluding
the Treaty of San Stefano, the Ottomans released control of
Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, granted autonomy to Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and allowed an autonomous state of Bulgaria to be
placed under Russian control.
(HN, 3/3/99)(HNQ, 2/23/01)
1878 Mar 3, The Treaty of San
Stefano was signed after Russo-Turkish War. It assigned
Albanian-populated lands to Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia; but
Austria-Hungary and Britain blocked 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)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_San_Stefano)
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 Jun, In Albania Ali Uka, a
journalist who criticized the Kosovo Liberation Army, was murdered.
Uka was brutally disfigured with a bottle and a screwdriver. Hashim
Thaci was his roommate at this time.
(Econ, 1/29/11, p.50)
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 26, Serbian forces
rounded up ethnic Albanian villages in Krushe e Vogel, Kosovo. Serb
forces herded 114 men and boys into a barn, including a disabled man
whose wheelchair was used to block one of the exits. The Serbs then
riddled the barn with bullets from automatic weapons before torching
it and all those inside. In 2011 a UN court sentenced former Serbian
police chief Vlastimir Djordjevic to 27 years in prison for
orchestrating the murder of hundreds of ethnic Albanians.
(SSFC, 9/8/02, p.F1)(AP, 2/23/11)
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)
1999 Hashim Thaci, later prime
minister of Kosovo, led a group of guerrillas. In 2010 they were
accused of killing Serb and other prisoners in Albania for their
kidneys. Thaci was also accused of being involved in the region’s
heroin trade.
(Econ, 12/18/10, p.100)
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)
2010 Apr 30, In Albania tens of
thousands of people thronged the main square of Tirana and demanded
a partial recount of the election that the opposition claims
involved vote-rigging.
(SFC, 5/1/10, p.A2)
2010 May 1, In Albania 22
opposition Socialist lawmakers and 180 supporters launched a hunger
strike to press the government to allow a partial recount of an
election they claim was tainted by vote-rigging. The government of
PM Sali Berisha, who narrowly won the June 28 general election
controlling 75 of parliament's 140 seats, called their demands
illegal.
(AP, 5/1/10)
2010 May 10, Serbian war crimes
prosecutors said a mass grave has been discovered in Serbia believed
to contain the bodies of 250 ethnic Albanians who were killed in
Kosovo during the 1998-99 Serbian crackdown on separatists.
(AP, 5/10/10)(SFC, 5/11/10, p.A2)
2010 May 11, In Albania Endrit
Llambaj (19) stormed into a classroom in the southern town of
Elbasan with a handgun and ordered all the students out except
20-year-old Gerta Baja. 3 shots were fired and Baja was found dead
at her desk. Llambaj ran away from the school but fatally shot
himself a few hundred yards away as police chased him.
(AP, 5/11/10)
2010 Jul 17, In Albania 14
people died and 12 others were injured, many of them seriously, when
a bus fell off a cliff 140 km (87 miles) north of the capital,
Tirana.
(AP, 7/17/10)
2010 Sep 12, In Kosovo a French
Gendarme was shot and wounded during clashes between ethnic
Albanians and Serbs in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica as
European Union police fired tear gas to disperse the violent crowd.
(AP, 9/12/10)
2010 Sep 21, The UN’s World
Health Organization (WHO) said 40 young Europeans are murdered every
day, with Russia, Albania and Kazakhstan having the highest homicide
rates for people aged 10-29.
(AP, 9/21/10)
2010 Dec 22, Albania invited an
international investigation into claims it was linked with the
trafficking of organs from slain civilians during the war in
neighboring Kosovo.
(AP, 12/22/10)
2011 Jan 14, Albanian Deputy PM
Ilir Meta resigned, saying he wanted to fight allegations of
corruption, after the release of a videotape appearing to show him
lobbying for favors.
(Reuters, 1/14/11)
2011 Jan 21, In Albania
protesters overturned and burned police vehicles and clashed with
officers who fought them off with tear gas, rubber bullets and water
cannon. Two men were fatally shot in the chest and another died of a
wound to the head. Tensions rose sharply last week when Deputy Prime
Minister Ilir Meta resigned after a private TV station aired a video
that showed him asking a colleague to influence the awarding of a
contract to build a power station. A 4th person died of wounds a few
days later.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Albanian_opposition_demonstrations)(AP,
1/22/11)
2011 Jan 22, In Albania a
political crisis escalated as the government and the opposition
traded blame for the deaths of three protests during a violent
demonstration against an administration accused of deeply rooted
corruption.
(AP, 1/22/11)
2011 Jan 28, Tens of thousands
of Albanians marched through Tirana to honor three opposition
supporters shot dead in a protest last week.
(SFC, 1/29/11, p.A2)
2011 Jan 30, Albanian police
said they detained three people suspected of conspiring to murder a
top opposition leader at Jan 28 anti-government protest, as the
opposition said it would not back down from its campaign against the
ruling party for alleged corruption.
(AP, 1/30/11)
2011 Feb 13, In Macedonia
ethnic clashes, mainly Muslim ethnic Albanians and orthodox
Christians, broke out at the historic Kale Fortress in a dispute
over a new structure being built on the foundations of a
13th-century church. 8 people were injured.
(AP, 2/16/11)
2011 Feb 16, Albanian lawmakers
voted to lift the immunity of Ilir Meta, a former prime minister
(1999-2002) accused of corruption, paving the way for him to be
investigated in a case that has triggered a severe political crisis.
(AP, 2/16/11)
2011 Feb 18, Tens of thousands
of Albanian opposition supporters marched peacefully through the
capital to demand the government resign over corruption allegations,
almost a month after four people died when a similar demonstration
turned violent.
(AP, 2/18/11)
2011 Feb 23, The UN Yugoslav
war crimes tribunal in the Hague sentenced Vlastimir Djordjevic (62)
to 27 years in prison after pronouncing him guilty of murdering at
least 724 Kosovo Albanians, as well as committing inhumane acts,
persecution and deportations.
(AP, 2/23/11)
2011 Mar 28, In Albania Alfred
Shkurti (45) was convicted of ordering six murders and personally
committing a seventh as head of a gang active in Albania, Turkey,
Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania, which trafficked drugs to western
Europe. Shkurti was arrested in Turkey and extradited to Albania in
2009 on an international warrant.
(AP, 3/28/11)
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