[Nettime-bold] C R I S I S W E B N E W S - New report - Albania: State of theNation 2001

["Tanya Borel" <icgbrussels@crisisweb.org>(by way of richard barbrook)]

        C R I S I S W E B   N E W  S
--------------------------------------
Friday, 25 May  2001
 
 BALKANS
 --------------- Albania Needs Help to Tackle  Organised Crime
  TIRANA/BRUSSELS, 25 May 2001: The Albanian  government urgently needs
funding and technical support to tackle trafficking of  drugs, weapons and
people across its borders. The Public Order Ministry in  Tirana has
declared that the biggest danger to Albanian society today lies in  the
increasing sophistication of organised crime, coupled with endemic
corruption. A new report from the International Crisis Group, Albania,
State  of the Nation, finds that dangerous perceptions are taking root in
parts of  Albanian society and among state employees that wealth from
illegal trafficking  can be used for the economic development of the
country.   The international community can assist  Albania by helping to
fund, equip and train an EU/Albanian border police force.  It should also
encourage the Albanian government to set up a National Drugs  Centre to
co-ordinate an anti-drug strategy and to conduct a public awareness
campaign about the real dangers of human trafficking. ICG Balkans Program
Director Mark Thompson said, "Young women and girls, especially in rural
areas,  need to be warned about the dangers of accepting dubious offers of
marriage or  jobs abroad." They also need to be protected. Anecdotal
evidence suggests that  in some areas up to 90 per cent of girls have
stopped going to school for fear  of kidnapping. Albania: State of the
Nation  also examines Albania s relations with it neighbours, Kosovo,
Montenegro,  Macedonia and Greece.

ICG says the government in Tirana deserves credit for its refusal  to back
the ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia. The government has faced
considerable domestic criticism for this decision, as well as for its
establishment of relations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which
angered many Kosovo Albanians. Mark Thompson said, "Whatever the private
long-term aspirations of most Albanians, the Albanian government remains
focused  on integration into Euro-Atlantic structures and has so far been
prepared to  weather the criticism of its ethnic kin to ensure regional
stability. This  should be recognised and supported." ICG argues that
greater security attention  should be paid to the fund-raising activities
of Albanian communities -  including those from Kosovo and Macedonia - in
the U.S. and Western  Europe.






In the lead-up to parliamentary elections on 24  June, ICG calls on the
Albanian authorities to pay particular attention to  electoral procedures
in the ethnic Greek districts of southern Albania. Historic  friction
between the Greek and Albanian-speaking populations has flared over
alleged manipulation in local elections last year. ICG s report examines
the  history of tension in this area   which has received little or no
attention from  the international community.



The complete text of the report may be  downloaded in pdf format from the
ICG website www.crisisweb.org




The report is also available in  printed form (write  to:
icgbrussels@crisisweb.org).
 
-------------------------------------
 CrisisWeb  - http://www.crisisweb.orgl

  -------------------------------------
 
To  unsubscribe from this list, simply send an email to
listcontrol@tmg.co.uk.  In the  body,  write:
leave[space]icgbalkans-news[space]<youremailaddress>.



_______________________________________________
Nettime-bold mailing list
Nettime-bold@nettime.org
http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold