Ham-handed State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) interventions have also transformed one of the most promising economies in the Balkans into a narco-state.

Home; Religion; the explainer Inside Albania's planned Muslim microstate. Proposal for 'Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order', a Vatican-style enclave, has sparked confusion, praise and heated debate ...

For example, following World War I, the country was divided among neighboring states by European superpowers, and after World War II, Albania was devastated by Nazi German and Italian forces.

Albania proposes plans to create a new, Vatican-like state Albania's Prime Minister wants to give a state and nationhood -- similar to the Vatican in Italy -- to a Muslim minority within the country.

His hoped-for Muslim state in Tirana, Albania’s capital, will be a Vatican-style sovereign enclave controlling territory about the size of five New York City blocks, ...

Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama is considering granting sovereign state status to the world headquarters of Bektashism, a Sufi movement that claims mysticism and values of pacifism and tolerance.

Albania's Prime Minister wants to give a state and nationhood -- similar to the Vatican in Italy -- to a Muslim minority within the country.