Signs of Reform Rise in Albania as Muslims Gather for Prayers
Muslims were allowed to pray at a mosque in the Albanian capital of Tirana Friday for the first time in more than 20 years and, in another sign of reform, Albania proposed legalizing strikes.
Albania, which had been the last haven for hard-line communists in Eastern Europe, began introducing gradual changes last year. A ban on religion was lifted in November.
About 10,000 people massed for the first Friday prayers at Tirana’s Ethem-Bej mosque since Albania’s Stalinist founder, Enver Hoxha, outlawed religion in 1967, the Yugoslav news agency HINA reported from Tirana.
About 70% of Albania’s 3.2 million people are thought to be Muslim, 20% Orthodox and 10% Roman Catholic.
Catholics in the northern Albanian city of Shkodra have celebrated Mass since the ban on religion was lifted. Ethnic Greeks in southern Albania have held Orthodox rites.
On another front, the government proposed to alter several laws in keeping with its newly declared commitment to democratic principles.
It forwarded to the presidium of the Parliament draft decrees on legalizing strikes, creating a “financial police” to crack down on speculators, allowing early retirement and increasing private activity in trade and services, the state news agency ATA said.
However, the proposal allowing strikes stipulates that the presidium can suspend work stoppages if it deems it necessary for the national interest, ATA said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
