The following lists events that happened during

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

in the

Republic of Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Bujar Nishani Bujar Faik Nishani (; 29 September 1966 – 28 May 2022) was an Albanian politician. He served as the president of Albania from 24 July 2012 to 24 July 2017. Nishani was the youngest person to have been chosen as president of Albania, taking of ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Edi Rama Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama; 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, artist and writer who has been serving as the 33rd and incumbent prime minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He was M ...

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

Niko Peleshi Niko Aleks Peleshi (born 11 November 1970) is an Albanian politician who is serving as the Minister of Defence since 31 December 2020. He previously has served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Albania in September 2013. He was Prefect of Korçë ...

Events

*January- *7 January: Two days of heavy rain caused flash floods, river overflow and landslides in several parts of the country, including the counties of

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

Lezhë Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. It is one of Albania's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously i ...

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

and Dibër. More than 100 people were evacuated. *February- *14 February:

U.S Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

visited Albania on the 25th anniversary of the bilateral relations between the two countries to encourage anti-corruption measures *March- *11 March: The manager of Regency Casino, Jim Backlund, from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, committed suicide after jumping from his third-floor hotel balcony *April- *20 April: An Australian female tourist was hiking on a cliff edge in

Tropojë Tropojë (; sq-definite, Tropoja) is a municipality in Kukës County, northeastern Albania, within the historical ethnographic region of the Gjakova Highlands. The municipality consists of the administrative units of Bajram Curri, Bujan, By ...

and fell to her death, A.V.Sh, age 56, who was hiking with her husband when she lost control, slipped and died. *May- *10 May: Albania competes in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes (Måns Zelmerlöw song), Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organis ...

with

Eneda Tarifa Eneda Tarifa (born 30 March 1982) is an Albanian singer and former television presenter. She represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, after winning the 54th edition of Festivali i Këngës and '' Portokalli'' from 2011 to 2016. ...

and her song "

Fairytale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful being ...

" but fails to qualify for the grand final ESC2016 - Albania 10

*June- *10 June: Albania participates for the first time in

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. *19 June: Albania wins its first ever football match against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

after qualifying for its first ever major football event, they won the match 1-0 after

Armando Sadiku Armando Durim Sadiku (born 27 May 1991) is an Albanian professional association football, footballer. Currently a free agent, he last played as a striker (association football), striker for Indian Super League club FC Goa, Goa. Sadiku began his ...

's goal in the 43rd minute, they did not advance to the knockout stage, but did not come last in Group A. *July- *21 July: The Parliament passes judiciary reform key to EU accession with 140 votes from 140 MP's. *25 July: Two people were shot to death in

Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...

, Ilir Deromemraj, 45 and Dhimiter Cani, 60, were shot in a betting cafeteria in the late-early hours of Sunday. A man poured gasoline onto Dashamir Saraçi, in the "Amerikan Spital" (American Hospital) in

, the perpetrator, Lefter Çanaj, argued with the man before the incident after waiting to use the kidney dialysis machine, the perpetrator and two other women, Sanije Sulaj and Anife Mal, both died after being treated in the ward, a male nurse and an older male were treated with burns. *August- *5-21 August: Albania competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. *6 August: A Russian tourist, Denis Kaiumov, 43, who was visiting

, died after Fatmir Kuci accidentally hit Denis with his sailboat when the Russian tourist was on a speed-boat, Fatmir was jailed for 20 days. *7 August: A Norwegian tourist, Brigitte Fratske, 57, who was visiting her family in

Sarandë Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; ) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Mediterrane ...

unexpectedly died in her hotel, Police are investigating. *8 August: Two robbers steal 210 million lek from a bank in Tirana *12 August: A 12-year-old boy was decapitated by his mentally-ill uncle, Jorgo Zani, 31, of the Palasa village in Vlorë, the motives of the murder are unknown *17 August: A driver carrying 20 tourists from the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

crashes while accidentally falling asleep on the Tepelena road in

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë moun ...

. *25 August: A wildfire engulfs the forest area near the beach of

Shëngjin Shëngjin () is a coastal town and a former municipality in Lezhë County, northwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality of Lezhë. The population at the 2023 census was 6,963. Shëngjin i ...

, the flames were extended due to winds in the area, Shëngjin State Police have suspected it may be arson. 18,200 cannabis plants were destroyed in the town of Kalivaç, in

Memaliaj Memaliaj is a town and a municipality in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Buz, Krahës, Luftinjë, Memaliaj, Memaliaj Fshat and Qesarat, that ...

but the owners were able to avoid capture. *September- *5 September: The

Albanian Parliament The Parliament of Albania () or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the b ...

recommences work *9 September: The remaining members of the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI), an exiled

Iranian opposition The Iranian opposition consists of groups and individuals in Iran who oppose the government of the Islamic Republic since its foundation in 1979. These groups are ideologically diverse, ranging from monarchists to supporters of parliamentary dem ...

group based in Iraq for decades arrived in Tirana for resettlement in Albania. *11 September: Partial elections are held in Dibër and they are won by the

Socialist Party of Albania The Socialist Party of Albania (, PSSh), also known as simply the Socialist Party (, PS), is a Social democracy, social-democratic centre-left political party in Albania. It is the successor to the Party of Labour of Albania, which reconstituted ...

. *29 September: the Enlargement Commissioner of the European Union

Johannes Hahn Johannes Hahn (born 2 December 1957) is an Austrian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Budget and Administration under Ursula von der Leyen since 1 December 2019. He previously served as European Commissioner for Neighbourho ...

mentioned the

Cham issue The Cham issue is a controversy which has been raised by Albania since the 1990s over the repatriation of the Cham Albanians, who were expelled from the Greek region of Epirus between 1944 and 1945, at the end of World War II, citing the collabor ...

as an "existing one" between Albania and Greece, alongside other matters that the two countries needed to resolve. *30 September: The inauguration ceremony of the commence of works for the

Trans Adriatic Pipeline The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP; ; ; ) is a natural gas pipeline operational since 2020, running from Greece through Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy. It is the final section of the Southern Gas Corridor originating in Azerbaijan. , capaci ...

in Albania. *October *8 October:

Leka II, Crown Prince of Albania Leka, Prince of Albania (Leka Anwar Zog Reza Baudouin Msiziwe Zogu, born 26 March 1982) is the current head of the House of Zogu, the former royal family of Albania. At the time of his birth on 26 March 1982, the South African government, by ord ...

married

Elia Zaharia Elia Zaharia (born 8 February 1983) is an Albanian actress, former singer, and the ex-wife of Leka, Prince of Albania. Early life and education She was born on 8 February 1983 in Tirana, Albania. She is the daughter of Gjergj Polikron Zaharia ( ...

in a semi-official ceremony in Tirana. *November- *5 November: 38 Martyrs of the Catholic Church executed by the communist regime in Albania, were beatified by the Vatican in a mass organized at St. Stefan Church in Shkodra. *8 November: Heavy rainfall caused heavy flooding in major Albanian cities, leaving 3 people dead. Schools were closed for two days and the army and emergency services began to evacuate people from emergency areas. *9 November: The European Commission recommended the launch of negotiations with Albania, for the

Accession of Albania to the European Union Albania is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the European Union (EU). It applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009, and has since June 2014 been an official candidate for accession. The Council of the European Union decided in ...

. *10 November:

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

launched

Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expa ...

for Albania. *20 November: Albania will compete in the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the fourteenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which took place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta, Malta. This was the second time that Malta have hosted the Junior Euro ...

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. They selected Klesta Qehaja and "Besoj" (Believe)

External links

{{Europe topic, 2016 in 2010s in Albania Years of the 21st century in Albania

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...