Germany’s government says the EU’s Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, has helped Albania prevent cross-border crime, among other things. The operation with 66 border guards from 12 member states was launched two months ago. It's the first time that Frontex exercises its powers in a non-EU member state.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), human trafficking and ‘modern slavery’ is on the rise across the globe and taking on ‘horrific dimensions.’ But what kinds of factors make people vulnerable to being trafficked? A new report investigates.
The EU's border protection agency has deployed teams to Albania to support police there in stopping illegal immigration. This is Frontex's first mission outside EU territory, with Brussels dubbing it a "game changer."
An agreement between the European Union and Albania to manage the country's borders has officially come into force. Agents from the EU border agency Frontex will be deployed there to fight irregular immigration and trafficking.
It has become increasingly difficult for refugees to make their way from Greece to Central Europe. Even in the face of police violence and the risk of arrest, thousands still embark on the dangerous journey.
The European Union and Albania have signed an agreement on border management. The accord reached between the Albanian Interior Ministry and EU border agency Frontex is the first signed with a third country.
An association of Italian jurists has said that the migrants who reached Italy aboard the Italian coast guard ship Diciotti cannot be forced to move to Albania as the country is not part of the European Union and the European asylum system.
Albania is reportedly open to hosting reception centers for individuals seeking asylum in the EU. The plan could help keep embattled German Chancellor Angela Merkel in power and placate her hard-line interior minister.
In recent days, 38 people have been arrested trying to cross into Albania. Authorities say more migrants are looking for alternative routes to get to Europe, as other countries close their borders.
A new migrant route has sprung up in the Balkans, and local governments are attempting to stem the flow. Governments in the region want to collaborate more in order to prevent another crisis.
Syrian refugees receive a warm welcome in Albania. Israel deports 40,000 African refugees without their permission and an NGO in Romania is offering assistance and accommodation to migrants and refugees. This and more in today's roundup.
Most of the refugees arriving in Albania want to go on to Western Europe. But the Matwa brothers from Syria feel at home in the small Balkan country. Lindita Arapi visited them in Tirana.