LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Albania: Kosovo
built 617 days ago
Albania maintains generally good relations with its neighbors. It re-established diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia following the ousting of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, and maintains excellent relations with the Republic of Montenegro, which gained its independence after the dissolution of the Serbia and Montenegro union in 2006. Although the final status of Kosovo remains a key issue in Albanian-Serbian relations, both nations are committed to achieving a peaceful resolution. Albanian, Macedonian, and Italian law enforcement agencies are cooperating with increasing efficiency to crack down on the trafficking of arms, drugs, contraband, and human beings across their borders. Albania has ... arrested and prosecuted several ethnic-Albanian extremists on charges of inciting interethnic hatred in Macedonia and Kosovo. Tensions occasionally arise with Greece over the treatment of the Greek minority in Albania or the Albanian community in Greece, but overall relations are good, and Greece maintains the public image of being a strong proponent of Albania's eventual integration into the EU and NATO.
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Since the 1990s, Albania made impressive progress on economic reform. In 1996/7... the pyramid saving scheme scandal (which wiped out about 60% of private savings) and the influx and maintenance of Kosovo refugees slowed social and economic development, which returned Albania temporarily to low-income country status. Since then, Albania has experienced a stable economic situation with an average growth of 5–6% per year, and with an estimated GNI per capita of about US$2,510 in 2005.
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Germany occupied Albania in September 1943, dropping paratroopers into TiranÎ before the Albanian guerrillas could take the capital, and the German army soon drove the guerrillas into the hills and to the south. Berlin subsequently announced it would recognize the independence of a neutral Albania and organized an Albanian government, police, and military. The Germans did not exert heavy-handed control over Albania's administration. Rather, they sought to gain popular support by backing causes popular with Albanians, especially the annexation of Kosovo. Some Balli Kombetar units cooperated with the Germans against the communists, and several Balli Kombetar leaders held positions in the German-sponsored regime. Albanian collaborators, especially the Skanderbeg SS Division... expelled and killed Serbs living in Kosovo.
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In 1990 Albania ended 44 years of xenophobic communist rule and established a multiparty democracy. The transition has been challenging as the once isolated country has had to build democratic, economic and social institutions from the ground up. The country has endured a national pyramid scheme failure and the tensions from the conflicts in neighboring Kosovo/Kosova and, more recently, Macedonia.
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The security situation in Albania is generally fine, but due to poverty, certain parts of the country require a little extra caution. The northeast of the country, which borders Kosovo, is dangerous due to the presence of landmines and armed gangs. It should only be tackled by travellers with local guides.
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With the overthrow of Mussolini's fascist regime and Italy's surrender in 1943, the Italian military and police establishment in Albania buckled. Albanian fighters overwhelmed five Italian divisions, and enthusiastic recruits flocked to the guerrilla forces. The communists took control of most of Albania's southern cities, except VlorÎ, which was a Balli Kombetar stronghold, and nationalists attached to the NLM gained control over much of the north. British agents working in Albania during the war fed the Albanian resistance fighters with information that the Allies were planning a major invasion of the Balkans and urged the disparate Albanian groups to unite their efforts. In August 1943, the Allies convinced communist and Balli Kombetar leaders to meet in the village of Mukaj, near TiranÎ, and form a Committee for the Salvation of Albania that would coordinate their guerrilla operations. The two groups eventually ended all collaboration... over a disagreement on the postwar status of Kosovo.
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