Emblem of Albania. Red with a black two-headed eagle in the center; the design is
claimed to be that of 15th-century hero George Castriota SKANDERBEG, who
led a successful uprising against the Turks that resulted in a
short-lived independence for some Albanian regions (1443-1478); an
unsubstantiated explanation for the eagle symbol is the tradition that
Albanians see themselves as descendants of the eagle; they refer to
themselves as “Shkypetars,” which translates as “sons of the eagle”
Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, but was conquered byItalyin 1939. Communist partisans took over the country in 1944.Albaniaallied itself first with theUSSR(until 1960), and then withChina(to 1978). In the early 1990s,Albaniaended 46 years of xenophobic Communist rule and established a multiparty democracy.
The transition has proven challenging as successive governments have tried to deal with high unemployment, widespread corruption, a dilapidated physical infrastructure, powerful organized crime networks, and combative political opponents.Albaniahas made progress in its democratic development since first holding multiparty elections in 1991, but deficiencies remain.
International observers judged elections to be largely free and fair since the restoration of political stability following the collapse of pyramid schemes in 1997; however, there have been claims of electoral fraud in every one ofAlbania’s post-communist elections. The 2009 general elections resulted in no single party gaining a majority of the 140 seats in Parliament, and the Movement for Socialist Integration (LSI) and the Democratic Party (DP) combined to form a coalition government, the first such in Albania’s history.
The Socialist Party (SP) has, in effect, boycotted Parliament since it convened in September 2009 and has called for investigations into alleged electoral fraud in the June 2009 elections.Albaniajoined NATO in April 2009 and is a potential candidate for EU accession. AlthoughAlbania’s economy continues to grow, the country is still one of the poorest inEurope, hampered by a large informal economy and an inadequate energy and transportation infrastructure.
The transition has proven challenging as successive governments have tried to deal with high unemployment, widespread corruption, a dilapidated physical infrastructure, powerful organized crime networks, and combative political opponents.Albaniahas made progress in its democratic development since first holding multiparty elections in 1991, but deficiencies remain.
International observers judged elections to be largely free and fair since the restoration of political stability following the collapse of pyramid schemes in 1997; however, there have been claims of electoral fraud in every one ofAlbania’s post-communist elections. The 2009 general elections resulted in no single party gaining a majority of the 140 seats in Parliament, and the Movement for Socialist Integration (LSI) and the Democratic Party (DP) combined to form a coalition government, the first such in Albania’s history.
The Socialist Party (SP) has, in effect, boycotted Parliament since it convened in September 2009 and has called for investigations into alleged electoral fraud in the June 2009 elections.Albaniajoined NATO in April 2009 and is a potential candidate for EU accession. AlthoughAlbania’s economy continues to grow, the country is still one of the poorest inEurope, hampered by a large informal economy and an inadequate energy and transportation infrastructure.
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