Europe\u2019s poorest and most isolated country for much of the 20th<\/sup> century, Albania espoused an extreme form of Communism which was too much even for the Soviet Union. By the 1980s, its only global friend was China. A bumpy introduction to capitalism in the 1990s included a massive pyramid scheme disaster and political conflict with its neighbour Serbia over the disputed region of Kosovo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2010s were kinder to Albania, with the election of renaissance man Edi Rama as Prime Minister: a former artist, basketball pro, university lecturer and mayor of Tirana. He assiduously courted the EU, hiring ex-British PM Tony Blair and his spin doctor Alistair Campbell as consultants and enacting a swathe of legislation to clean up the country, both physically and metaphorically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tirana and other major cities\u2019 centres are now pristine, with rows of palm trees lining newly-paved boulevards. Buildings are painted in bright colours, dispelling the \u2018grey concrete\u2019 stereotype of the Communism era. Smoking has been outlawed in bars and restaurants and myriad types of law-breaking \u2013 from stealing electrical supplies to erratic driving \u2013 are outlawed. He also presents Albania as a bulwark in the fight against Islamic extremism that threatens the liberty of the entire region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Mother Teresa airport opened in 2008, a new road from Tirana to Lalzit Bay opened in 2012 and there have been massive infrastructure programmes linking Tirana with Kosovo and with the southern region. \u201cIt used to take 10 hours to get from Tirana to Sarand\u00eb, now it takes five,\u201d says Egla Lila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Lila the contrast between Albania today and the country of her childhood is stark. \u201cNobody knew about us in the 1990s,\u201d she says. \u201cNow, we\u2019re the centre of attention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlbania is modernising very fast,\u201d says Egla Lila, a real estate agent based in Tirana. \u201cWe have the youngest population in Europe, a new government that is enforcing the rule of law, reducing corruption and attracting investment. But the most important thing is progressing to European Union status.\u201d In 2014 Albania became an official EU […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/08\/Albania-1.jpg\")
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