Diary of Tirana

Ne, shqiptarët e zakonshëm jemi Aleanca Kundër Plehrave

2012-01-14T18:58:00.000+01:00

Kush po e mbështet AKIP? Rama, Kuq e Zi apo vetë Berisha? Jo! Po e mbështesin të gjithë shqiptarët.Nga Gjergj ErebaraKy vend mund të vuajë për shumë gjëra, por është një element për të cilin duket se nuk do të vuajë kurrë. Teoritë e konspiracionit mbi interesat e fshehta që mund të ketë çdo shqiptar sa herë që ngre zërin për një çështje të caktuar, qoftë edhe kjo interes i qartë publik.Kështu po

Garancia kundrejt falimentit si origjinë e papërgjegjshmërisë

2011-12-01T11:40:00.000+01:00

Kriza në origjinë30 nëntor 2011Gjithçka thuhet se filloi në vitin 1994 dhe solli krizën ekonomike dhe financiare botërore që po përjetojmë sot. Një bankier shpiku një produkt që quhet “Credit Default Swap”, (CDS). Produkti qe një police sigurimi e ngjashme me policat e sigurimit që njerëzit blejnë për makinat. Nëse dikush përplaset me makinën tënde, atëherë kompania e sigurimit paguan dëmin e

Mirësevini në emisionin e parapëlqyer KPD seria e dytë

2011-09-11T12:56:00.001+02:00

Gjergj ErebaraGjysma e dytë e mandatit të dytë të qeverive duhet të ketë ndonjë lëndë alkimike misterioze që i bën gjërat tmerrësisht të ngjashme. Ka gjasa që të jenë përmasat e Shqipërisë, shumë të vogla për të mbajtur të gjithë hajdutët, numri i të cilëve pëson rritje dyshifrore gjatë kalimit nga mandati i parë, në atë të dytin.Gati një dekadë më parë, socialistët u mblodhën në atë që quhej “

Kompleksi piramidal

2011-08-06T11:58:00.003+02:00

Gjergj ErebaraPiramida është një figurë gjeometrike jo dosido! Emri mbart kuptime dhe ndjesi të çuditshme. Gjatë rilindjes Europiane, piramidat e Egjiptit qenë simboli i vuajtjes së kotë dhe të pakuptimtë të skllevërve. Piramida është simbol i një hierarkie sunduese, forme organizimi për korporatat, alegori për skemat financiare mashtruese, simbol i pushtetit të fshehtë të masonëve, etj. Të

Interrnimi i artë, strategjia e re e Berishës për të spastruar PD-në

2011-08-02T12:42:00.001+02:00

Gjergj ErebaraDymbëdhjetë muajt e ardhshëm pritet të jenë me plot lajme politike. Një brez i tërë politikanësh mund të dalë në pension të parakohshëm për t’i lënë vendin çunakëve. Kjo është veçanërisht e vërtetë për Partinë Demokratike. Por mundet që brezi i xhaketave të vjetra të përjetojë një rini të dytë te Partia Socialiste. Në PD këto kohë po përzihen të vjetrit, të cilët me apo pa dëshirë

Jericho -- tomlin e nanes

2011-06-19T20:21:00.000+02:00

What means “being European” in Kosovo? An elder sexually abused!

2011-06-18T02:10:00.010+02:00

The songGjergj ErebaraErvin QafmollaThere is something really new in the way in which Albanians are now conceiving Europe and their “European Identity”. In 1930s, a Catholic priest in north Albania, considered a national poet, said: “Europe is an old whore”. Little schoolgirls learned that in their class readings.This was to characterize the shifting alliances between different great powers and

From Sweden to Amsterdam

2011-04-17T15:33:00.006+02:00

Escaping from the sleepy and boring town of Lund, in South Sweden for the much warmer cities of Netherlands is always a very nice experience. There are many reasons to escape to Netherlands from Sweden. First, the beers in Sweden cost about 5 euro each and had a maximum of 3.5 per cent alcohol. In Netherlands, beers cost just 2 euro and are much tastier. There are two low cost movies that had

Arranging children number with a spoon set

2011-02-16T00:03:00.002+01:00

Can you imagine a good reason of having twelve children instead of ten? A family in mountainous area of Diber in East Albania was interviewed this week by Top Channel, a television network as a family with ten children aged three to twenty-three years old. Nine of the ten children are girls, the last one is boy. Two other boys were unfortunate and died. The head of the family, Nazmi Shehi, does

EU and Albania – welcome to the new Brussels mandate

2011-02-04T19:46:00.004+01:00

By Gjergj ErebaraIn a very friendly interpretation of the political situation in Albania, Daniel Korski, from the European Council on Foreign Relations, proposed that the international community must step in and organize the next general elections in Albania as the only solution to the current political crisis in an editorial published in the New York Times few days ago.Korski says that Albania

‘Shame’ is the word after the Tirana bloodshed

2011-01-26T17:21:00.003+01:00

By Gjergj Erebara“Shame” is the right word to express the feelings of members of Albania’s Facebook community over what happened on Friday in Tirana, when a protest called by the opposition ended in violence in which three people died and dozens of others were wounded. Facebook surfers recalled poetry about madness. Alongside them were accusations from various politically affiliated participants

Kosovo Picnic

2011-01-12T22:27:00.000+01:00

Kosovo guys from Drenica region singing for dictator Enver Hoxha and enjoying a "quiet" picnic on countryside. :)

Facebook! A waste of time!?

2011-01-11T14:32:00.004+01:00

I cannot deny! I am by nature highly skeptical toward new technology benefits. So it happens that I like more to wait and not urge myself to use the newest computer, the newest operating system or the newest internet tool of communication. In part this is because I am oversensitive toward the power of advertisement and propaganda. I see how people put themselves in strain to buy the newest mobile

Amusing news from Kosovo

2011-01-07T17:38:00.004+01:00

During the last weeks as rarely happen, news from Kosovo were highly amusing. The international community, including EU and US prized openly stability on the expenses of democracy in the general elections held in Sunday, 12 Dec. The prime minister Hashim Thaçi seems that wants to buy international recognition for highly and violently manipulated elections, by playing antinationalism card and by

Saturday afternoon in Durres

2011-01-04T22:02:00.006+01:00

I have found often boring spending Saturday afternoon in Tirana, thus I have exploited several ways in spending few hours away from home. Now I am trying to build a list of activities that could be performed within few hours of the Saturday afternoon in commuting distance from Tirana. I will start with Durres, a relaxing town just 30 KM away from Tirana where different things can attract your

2011-01-04T01:54:00.004+01:00

Photos taken on March 2009 during the works to build Albania-Kosovo highway, better known as the "Highway of the Nation" or the "Patriotic Highway". The 61 central section from Rreshen to Kalimash was build by Bechtel and Enka joint-venture and cost more than 1 BN USD. The exact costs are unknown.

New Mosque Plan Catches Albania Muslims Off Guard

2010-11-22T12:57:00.005+01:00

Islamic community surprised by mayor's sudden announcement that a new mosque will be built in the centre of TiranaBy Besar Likmeta, Balkaninsight"The announcement was a bombshell," said Elvis Naci, imam of Tirana's Tabakeve mosque, adding that the council of the Muslim Community had yet to discuss the proposal and express an official position.Speaking before the Eid celebration, Tirana Mayor Edi

The historical values of the building called “Pyramid”

2010-11-07T16:58:00.002+01:00

Lately, in another attempt to produce heated political debates, Albanian government had announced that it intends to destroy the Pyramid, a building erected in 1985-1988 in Tirana in honor of the communist dictator Enver Hoxha as a museum for his life. This is the second time in four years that government says it want to do something with that building. In the first time, burned some millions of

What I like from south Albania

2010-08-08T16:13:00.001+02:00

By Gjergj ErebaraTo many, visiting the south Albania Riviera and the surrounding area is funny. Middleclass Albanians goes there for holidays, while plenty of foreigners who occasionally visited Saranda and Gjirokastra (from Corfu) had had good memories. In July, I and two friends traveled south for a three days trip. So, I am describing below costs and fun that we enjoyed during these three

Dictatorship, propaganda and architecture

2010-03-02T12:33:00.002+01:00

By Gjergj ErebaraBunkersBunkers, in the subliminal of Albanians are not only symbols of isolation or military defense system but they are mainly the symbol of unclean public toilets that can be used in extreme cases. Unfortunately, for those whose youth years happened to occur in early '90s, the bunkers are a symbol as the place of the first kiss, premarital love or whoring. In this context,

Berlusconi blow doll

2010-02-17T12:09:00.003+01:00

That's a good protest :)Following bizarre comments by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on albanian girls, the NGO Mjaft! offered to him a blow doll, saying that we Albanians want to keep the beautiful girls for ourselves, so we may help Mr. Berusconi by offering to him a "Bambola".HahahaBackgroundMr. Berlusconi was in a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha last

Mixed feelings on EU-Lex mission in Kosovo

2009-09-12T18:29:00.005+02:00

Parked cars. Photo: Vetevendosje.orgOn Monday, 14 September, several thousand Albanians in Kosovo are expected to protests against a so-called EULex – Serbia's protocol on cooperation. I am going there to cover the protest as a journalist, but I feel barely “independent” and “unbiased” as a correct reporter should be. The protesters are very nice guys. Well learned guys and girls, aggressive,

I hate staying in one place for more than three days

2009-08-02T23:18:00.004+02:00

This is my second day in Ohrid, (MK), but I have already enough that I would like to change. It is not because of Ohrid, of course. This is a beautiful town with a great lake that is friendly and calm. Peoples who live around this glacial era lake are known for their calm behavior, despite their ethnicity or religion. This perhaps explain why the rude events of the age of nationalism, with all

The first and the last country in everything

2009-07-30T20:07:00.002+02:00

Albania! My country is widely described as “a majority Muslim country”, “the second poorest”, a country were still exists the ancient rude traditions of blood feud and sworn virgins, the last country in Eastern Europe that is still ruled by a former communist, as BBC put it.Despite all “bad” things, Albania is as well (surprisingly) one of the first countries in Europe that gave women the right

From Tirana to Ohrid and back

2009-07-20T21:23:00.006+02:00

A reader of my blog posted to me the simple question how to go from Tirana International Airport and back. So I have tried to explain all ways.Ohrid is a beautiful town on the lake and I like it. I will spend some days in August there. Furthermore, this week, a very ancient tomb with many interesting artifacts has been discovered for the first time near the Castle of Ohrid.Dear TravelerLet me

Këto të cmendur duhet të ndalen sa më parë

2009-01-08T20:42:00.000+01:00

Këto të cmendur duhet të ndalen sa më parëPolitika shqiptare na bëri të qartë gjatë dy ditëve të fundit se të drejtat elementare të njeriut, si e drejta e lëvizjes, e drejta për të poseduar paratë e tua apo të drejtat që rrjedhin nga kontratat e punës, janë tërësisht të pavlefshme, në rast se qytetarëve të këtij vendi nuk u rruhet të marrin një kartë identiteti, e cila nuk u hyn në punë për asgjë

Another tragedy

2008-10-20T12:59:00.001+02:00

Las evening, an young mother and his baby died in the salt waters of Lake Butrinti in South Albania. They had tried to travel illegally to Greece, after had turned to participate in a funeral back in home. Traveling in illegal way to Greece is a normal practice for Albanians. They travel for several nights away from inhabited areas and roads, in order to avoid been captured. Such travel is

Crisis ahead

2008-10-16T21:40:00.001+02:00

In the most isolated country in the European continent, international financial crisis has not yet come. Albania have not a stock market, so, there are not equities to fall. Financial system is undeveloped, dominated by depository banks. Banks, since ever like to accumulate deposits to invest in government bonds. Local currency lek, is not under pressure, something different from Serbian Dinar

Unhappy to regain independence

2008-10-16T13:10:00.000+02:00

Gjergj Erebara in TiranaIt was a routine news. International Monetary Fund concluded its periodical negotiations with Government of Albania last week. IMF had conducted such negotiations three times per year since 1991, except during 1997 year of civil unrest. All was the usual news, well known for Albanians, with IMF verdict on what government had done well and what was wrong. But was one

Political heat high in Albania

2008-10-13T19:09:00.000+02:00

Many strange thinks had happened in Albania during last days. A Bosnian businessman named Damir Fazlic was reported arrested in Sarajevo from Bosnian Police and released after some hours. Newspapers in Tirana reported that this Mr. Fazlic, own a group of companies here in Albania and has strong links with Prime Minister Berisha. Mr. Berisha said in parliament last week “yes, Mr. Fazlic is my

Our enemy, panic

2008-10-08T17:40:00.000+02:00

Many common peoples here in Tirana, are near panic. They read the news about International Financial Crisis and are very afraid about they savings. They are much more afraid that the rest of Europeans since they had lost one time only 11 years before, on 1997 financial collapse of Albania. Now many peoples are thinking seriously to withdraw their savings from banks. Head of Central Bank of

Daily life in Tirana

2008-10-07T10:24:00.000+02:00

Two small events happened last few days in Tirana. In the first event, I have witnessed when six cops from Municipality and one tax inspector had come to a small coffee/bookstore in which usually I go in the morning. They have ordered the closure of the activity, because the owner have not payed the tax for both activities, so for bookstore and for the coffee. Books comprise a very poor business

Many conditions for European integration

2008-10-02T11:56:00.000+02:00

Albanian government looks a little frustrated by Athens. Tirana wants that Greek Parliament ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement between Albania and European Union, but Greeks seems that have presented a long list of conditions for this. All conditions are not official, but Tirana is struggling to fulfill them. Last month, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Albania, informed Macedonia

Gaming virtual money on FOREX

2008-10-01T13:44:00.000+02:00

By GjergjThere is a stupid rule in finance: If you have not money, you cannot invest! So, accepting this eternal truth, I have played for last months with virtual money in on line currency trades, using different platforms, like FXCM.com, Saxobank and lately, ibfx.com. Some times i have earned virtual money, while some times I have loosed. Anyway, for whom is interested to trade currencies on

Chaos of surveys on corruption

2008-09-29T15:10:00.001+02:00

By Gjergj ErebaraAt least, four different institutions have issued a study about corruption in Albania. Two of them noted that corruption was decreased in my country during last year. The other two, noted that corruption was increased sharply. I am feeling quite confused about this. Transparency International announced early this week that Albania have fought hard corrupted peoples so much for

Theth, a road to peace

2008-09-15T20:08:00.001+02:00

By Dorina,My boyfriend and I at the end of august went in Theth, the last village in the north of Albania. We had decided this a month ago and I had never been there before although I was curious to see this village. I must say that initially the most important reason to do this journey was the fact that we would be together. We wanted this trip together since a long time. We started our way from

Around Balkans, Espresso index – costs of traveler

2008-07-04T21:48:00.001+02:00

By Gjergj Erebara around BalkansIn 1984, The Economist weekly published for the first time the so-called “Big Mac Index”. This is a method to understand better the value of one US dollar in different countries. This is important because with one dollar, in London you can pay the right to piss in a clean or sometime unclean WC, while in Africa, you can pay a modest lunch. “BIG Mac Index” compares

Around Balkans

2008-06-29T12:21:00.001+02:00

30 April 2008 While experts query recent reported oil finds, rising oil prices may mean even Albania’s existing fields could yield big profits. By Gergj Erebara in Tirana The report of a new oil source, discovered in Albania in January, had Ervin Blloshmi calling home ecstatically. “You

There is a huge speculation in Albanian real estate market

2008-05-24T18:47:00.001+02:00

By Gjergj Erebara in Tirana If you listen advises of experts from construction industry, seems that housing market in Albania is an excellent opportunity for investments. “At this moment, Albania is a good market that should improve the housing stock, increase office space, develop retail schemes and shopping centers,” said Philip Bay of real estate consultants Colliers International, during

“The Siege” or what outsiders should think about Albanians

2008-05-23T19:35:00.000+02:00

By Gjergj Erebara in Tirana Last week, one of the most beautiful and imaginative novel written by Ismail Kadare during the communism isolation of my country, “The Siege” was published in UK, attracting media attention. I have read that book in Albanian so I am not familiar with English version. So I am writing my impression derived by Albanian version. First at all, to me seems that “The Siege”

Obituary

2008-05-23T11:11:00.000+02:00

Dritan Hoxha, 40, President of Top Media, Albania’s biggest media group, lost his life last night in a car accident, - police said this morning. Mr. Hoxha was a very important entrepreneur in the country and self-made businessmen. He began trade activities in the '90s, selling coffee and Espresso machines. At the end of the '90, his company Lori Café turned to be the most important player in

Foreign buyers may grab our dream to be homeowner

2008-05-22T21:08:00.001+02:00

By Gjergj Erebara in Tirana Albania is not more a country in continuous civil unrest, and that is good news. Since February 2004, opposition had not attempted to overrun the government by using aggressive mob to attack state offices. But this kind of news is also not so good for the dreams of Albanians who had decided to live in this country. According to news from London, a wave of

Small companies – huge dreams

2008-05-22T20:43:00.000+02:00

By Gjergj Erebara in Tirana This is now usual news. A new company, which had not even a webpage, had promised USD 500m investments in oil & gas industry in Albania. Stream Oil & Gas Ltd, a Canadian based company, announced today in Tirana that intends to redevelop three oil fields and one gas field in Albania, investing USD 200m for extraction and a further 300m to build gas fired thermal

Lessons from the end of the world

2008-05-21T17:29:00.000+02:00

Since ever, Albanian politicians have a dream to become important in world politics By Gjergj Erebara in Tirana Again, an Albanian politician had gone to give lessons to foreign states how to manage the issues of the world. The small Albania has a voice, and that voice should be heard from the rest of the world. Prime Minister Sali Berisha declared today tha “Iran should not deny Holocaust

Hot-sour-chilly religious chorba

2008-05-19T18:08:00.000+02:00

A very old topic returns to people’s attention creating a vary kind of provocation and some degree of irritationBy Gjergj Erebara in Tirana Ben Blushi, 39, is a journalist turned politician and now, had presented itself as a novelist. As a politician and journalist since 1991, had never blow up such debates as he have done with its first novel, “Living in the Island”. The book have caused fervor

A new Guinness record produced by Albanian Premier

2008-05-18T18:07:00.000+02:00

Prime Minister of Albania Sali Berisha, 64, is fighting to break its own record for the number of news produced within 24 hours. If you look at keshilliministrave.al, (official webpage of the government), you will find hard to count the news produced for today, 17 May, 2008.Anyway, I have counted them. There are fourteen press releases, and maybe others will be added till the end of the day.

Corruption index found a country in deep depression

2008-05-18T17:53:00.000+02:00

Bank of Albania warned this month that “the risk for major fluctuation in FOREX market is more likely now”By Gjergj Erebara in Tirana High sensitivity about corruption had left in shadow a much more important part of a survey conducted by a local NGO in Tirana, financed by USAID. The survey finds that general perception of peoples in Albania is that corruption is not only widespread but it is

Looking for Berlin Wall and other curtains

2008-05-18T17:41:00.001+02:00

Gjergj Erebara in Berlin On 1971, in a western Berlin movie, an old man walked looking around and asking: “Once, here there was the Potsdamenplatz. Here there was the crossroad of Europe. Where does that square lie now?!” The unspoken answer was that Potsdamenplatz, the heart of Berlin in the ‘20s and ‘30s, was not anymore. The old man could imagine that the place was nearby but