Visa-Free Regime Established between Albania and Macedonia
Balkan Travellers
It is expected that the agreement will be signed on February 18, during the official visit of Macedonian Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, to Tirana, the Macedonian Vecher newspaper reported.
The decision comes after new procedures that required Albanians to apply for visas at Macedonian diplomatic missions and not at border control points were postponed on February 1.
As BalkanTravellers.com reported in January, Skopje adopted the new, stricter procedures as part of the country’s candidacy to the EU. Following strong opposition by Albania, however, the new regime was first postponed and then renegotiated.
In addition to entirely dropping the visa requirement, the recent agreement includes additional concessions for people who live in the regions on both sides of the border. Macedonian and Albanian citizens residing within 20 kilometres of the border will be able to cross it with their state-issued identification cards, without the need for passports.
Related news:
Macedonia’s New Visa Procedures for Albanians Postponed
Albanians Oppose New Visa Regime in Macedonia
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Ćevapčići from Leskovac, köfte from İzmir or Bulgarian kebapche? Greek keftedes too, please!
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Albania
Bunkers in Albania Converted into Hotels and Bars with Stunning Views
18 May 2010 | In Albania, projects to convert some of the 750,000 bunkers built during Enver Hoxha’s totalitarian regime and scattered all over the country into hotels, cottages and bars are underway. Full Story
Useful Reads
Balkans
Through Another Europe (2009) | Edited by Andrew Hammond
When Henry Blount journeyed through Bosnia in the 1630s, two things struck him: the purity of the water and the great height of the Bosnians, which, he noted, “made me suppose them the offspring of those old Germans noted by Tacitus and Caesar for their huge size.”
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Music
Albania
16-Year Old Kejsi Tola to Represent Albania in Eurovision Song Contest
20 March 2009 | Kejsi Tola, a student at the Art College of Tirana, will be heading to Moscow this year for Eurovision. She cleared her own path to Moscow by winning the National Song Festival in December.
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs