Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports Blendi Gonxhja stated on social media that this milestone meeting will be held under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports and UNESCO, bringing together experts and representatives from countries across Southeast Europe in Albania.

“This milestone meeting brings together experts and representatives from countries in Southeast Europe to exchange experiences, best practices and new approaches regarding the preservation, promotion and transmission of intangible cultural heritage to future generations.

Hosting this meeting in Albania reaffirms our country’s active role and commitment to the protection of cultural heritage—a living asset that safeguards the identity, memory and traditions of our communities. From traditional craftsmanship to rituals, celebrations, music and knowledge passed down through generations, intangible cultural heritage serves as a bridge connecting the past to the future,” concluded Gonxhja.

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EANA was founded on August 21, 1956. In 1970, agencies behind the so called “iron curtain” were invited to join.

EANA´s predecessor Agences Alliées was founded in 1924 and was active until the World War II when the activities were discontinued. EANA serves as a forum for cooperation and exchange of information and experiences among European news agencies.

32 leading European news agencies are currently pooling their resources to create a common platform on key issues such as copyright, AI, journalism and general development of the news agency field.

The organisation is powered by each of the member agencies representing 32 European countries with around 750 million inhabitants.

The main objectives for EANA are to provide a business environment where news agencies can fulfill their duty of independent and impartial news reporting, to promote cooperation and information exchange between member agencies, and to provide member agencies with a pan-European professional forum for discussion and exchange of experiences and knowledge by organizing workshops and conferences.

EANA Spring Conference will take place at the Plaza Hotel, followed by a tour of downtown Tirana and visits to various museums.

This conference, presented and sponsored by ATA, will separately address the topics “European Newsroom and other collaborative projects between news agencies”, “Financial Independence: Diversification of income”, “Copyright Issues”, “Legislative Improvements for Public and State News Agencies”, in addition to problems such as cybersecurity, protection of journalists, interference by politicians, lawsuits, subsidies and government alternatives or disinformation and fact-checking.

Keynote speakers will be Director General of ATA Valbona Zhupa, Associated Press Europe and Africa News Director James Jordan, who has extensive experience at AP, ITN and Sky News covering stories on the Ukraine war; the terrorist attacks in Paris and Tunisia, the advance of ISIS in Iraq and the Manchester concert bombing.

Other speakers include Tina Mari Flem (NTB), Aimilios Perdikaris (ANA-MPA), Nataliya Kostina (Ukrinform), Hanspeter Kellermueler (Keystone-SDA), Jaroslav Kabele (CTK) and Peter Kropsch (dpa).

Opening remarks will be delivered by ATA’s General Director Valbona Zhupa and President of EANA, CEO of AFP Fabrice Fries.

DPA CEO Peter Kropsch, also chairman of the EANA Copyright Committee, will deliver a presentation on the topic “Structure of AI contracts and the latest rules at EU level – Recommendations from the EANA Copyright Committee”./ a.jor./p.s./

Albanian Football Association welcomed today’s decision by the UEFA Executive Committee which grants Albania the right to be one of the host countries for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

As one of the host countries, Albania will have for the first time the opportunity to take part in a major international tournament for the U-21.

President of the Albanian Football Association Armand Duka stated that, “This is a very important decision by UEFA, because the 2027 U-21 European Championship will be more than just a football tournament. It will serve as a catalyst to break down barriers, strengthen mutual understanding and create a more positive future for the people of Albania and Serbia, the other co-host country. This tournament will also show what can be achieved when people unite around a common goal, inspired by the power of football.”

President Duka added that, “This will be the biggest sporting event in the history of Albania.”

Albania and Serbia will each host eight participating teams while the grand final match will be played at the “National Arena” in Tirana. In 2022, this 22000-seat stadium also hosted the UEFA Europa Conference League final.

Meanwhile, the other matches of the 2027 European U-21 Championship that will take place in Albania will be played at the “Loro Boriçi” stadium in Shkodra, “Elbasan Arena” in Elbasan and “Arena Egnatia” in Rrogozhina. /a.f/p.s./

This summit is expected to highlight Albania’s significance as a strategic partner for regional stability and European integration.

The event is considered a great success for Albanian diplomacy, demonstrating its ability to organize high-level international activities and to promote the significance of the Western Balkans on the EU agenda.

Prime Minister Edi Rama has considered it a privilege that the upcoming meeting of the European Political Community will take place in Tirana.

In a joint press statement with the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, after the meeting of the European Political Community in Budapest, on November 7, PM Rama stated that, “It will be a great privilege to work as a team to make the coming meeting in Tirana as successful as this one.”

Rama thanked French President Emmanuel Macron, because it was his idea to promote the organization of such a format, which is an old French vision dating back to the 17th-18th centuries.

The meeting could be an opportunity for Albania to show its commitment to advancing in the process of integration and strengthening of democratic institutions.

It is also an opportunity to discuss the future of the region and to promote cooperation with other countries of the European Political Community. /gj.m/r.e/ /a.g/p.s./

While being already a tradition in New York, Albanians from all over the world will come together in Tirana in the pride parade.

Marko Kepi, president of “Albanian Roots” said that this beautiful tradition will be held every year in an Albanian city.

“This year, for the first time, the parade of Albanians will take place in Tirana, i.e. in Albania, and our desire is to take the parade through Albanian cities every year, i.e. in Prishtina, Tirana, Skopje, Ulcinj, in all Albanian space so that to make the union of Albanians a tradition. Let’s celebrate at least once a year together, put aside politics and the things that divide us, but gather for something that unites us, which is being Albanian”, he said.

Marko Kepi appreciated the commitment of the municipality of Tirana and Mayor Erion Veliaj for the organization of this parade which has brought together over 125 municipalities from the Albanian space./k.s/p.s./

Minister of Defense Niko Peleshi attended beginning of this exercise.

He considered the exercise important for increasing the standards of the Armed Forces.

During his speech, Minister Peleshi spoke about an ambitious plan that the Ministry of Defense and the government have for Cyber ​​Security.

“For the Navy, we also have ambitions and plans as we shared with the commander to increase our fleet in the medium term and to increase our maintenance capacity. We are in the process of identifying the best ways we can so that to have a better response to all maintenance needs, but also, as I said, construction, purchasing other vessels as we have them in our capacity objectives” said the minister of defense.

Peleshi stressed that large investments are foreseen in the field of infrastructure and these are being discussed and planned with the government program as part of major projects for Albania.

The minister of defense also highlighted the experience that the Armed Forces of Albania received exactly one year ago from the largest exercise “Defender 2021”.

It is worth remembering that one year ago, in the entire territory of Albania, there was held the “Defender-21” exercise, an important component of it was at sea. And I believe that we have learned lessons and got promoted to a degree that we have never had the chance before. Thus, we are now even more ready to become a host country, not only on land, but also in the air, and at sea for the next “Defender 2023 “and beyond”, stressed Peleshi.

While the Commander of the Navy, Rear Admiral, Adnand Agastra explained the goals of this exercise, which also have to do with concrete service to the community.

“After this exercise, the ships will be sending throughout the Albanian coast; from Shengjin to Saranda, in all open ports, but also the bases of the Navy in order to respond to the situations of the season due to the increase in the flow of tourists, even the illegal use of the sea. The ships will be in the region in time to respond to all situations,” said Agastra.

The purpose of this exercise was to evaluate and certify groups of patrol vessels as enforcement units, to test the organizational and command skills of group commanders, to plan the Naval Staff as well as to carry out firing with armament of ships.

In the Grupex-22 exercise took part 11 Navy ships and 3 ARCH ANGEL class ships. The drill and the coastal shootings were conducted in accordance with the training documents as well as those of NATO-s./a.a/p.s./

Sharing a Twitter post by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Xhaçka stressed that, “We stand side by side with our allies, ready to guarantee their security and well-being”.

“Albania is ready to host hundreds of Afghans, whose lives are threatened by the deteriorating security situation. We stand side by side with our allies, ready to guarantee their security and well-being,” Xhaçka said.

The US State Department issued today a joint statement to the international community on the situation in Afghanistan.

In a Twitter post, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “The United States joins the international community in affirming that Afghans and international citizens who wish to depart must be allowed to do so. Roads, airports, and border crossing must remain open, and calm must be maintained.” /j.p/p.s./

Albania will host the matches of this tour that will be played on June 22-25, 2021 in Durrës and Elbasan. On June 22, at 20:00 will start the first semifinal ESS Folgore (SMR) – FC Prishtina (KOS), which is played at the stadium “Elbasan Arena” in Elbasan.

The other semifinal will be played on June 22 and at the same time in the stadium “Niko Dovana” of Durrës, HB Torshavn (FRO) -Club d’Escaldes (AND).

The winners of the two pairs will face each other in the final of this tour that will be played on June 25, at 20:00 in the “Elbasan Arena” stadium of Elbasan to determine the team that will qualify for the next stage.

Thus, UEFA continues to entrust the Albanian Football Association with the organization of important events, taking into account the good organization of matches of great importance by the Albanian football institution as well as the important investments that have been made in infrastructure and football during these years.

Further on, this is due to the easing of anti-Covid measures in Albania and the decrease of cases with this virus that blocked the whole world for almost more than a year.

This news comes after another historical news, such as the organization of the final of the newest competition in European football, UEFA Conference League, at the “Air Albania” stadium in May 2022./p.s./