Albania stands out amongst former Eastern Bloc countries for most actively experimenting with almost all forms of parliamentary boycott. The Albanian way of resorting to boycotting is related to a host of widely unaddressed deficiencies and gaps in its democratic mindset, embodied in an endemic culture of permanent political confrontation between…[Read more]

Over the 27 years of transition of Albania from a closed society to an open and democratic country, the nature of protests and social movements has been mostly sporadic, largely dominated by its (bad) political use, and by protests directed against allegedly abusive investment of foreign capital in Albania. The motives behind these particular…[Read more]

In July 1990, about 5,000 Albanian citizens broke into foreign embassies in Tirana, mainly those of the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy and France, in a desperate attempt to leave Albania. This was the largest exodus since 1945 and the first case of a mass movement of citizens against the policies of the communist regime. The “occupation” of…[Read more]