Yearbook 2006
Albania. In June, the country signed a Stabilization and
Association Agreement with the EU, the first formal step
towards EU membership. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn
commended Albania for the progress made in the fight against
organized crime. At the same time, he noted that extensive
reform work remains before membership becomes relevant.
Following an agreement with the United States, Albania in
May received five Chinese Muslims detained in the US
Guantánamo detention camp in Cuba. Already in 2003, US
authorities had determined that the men did not pose a
security risk, but did not want to admit them to the United
States and not hand them over to China, citing that they
risked persecution there. According to
CountryAAH, the men were Uyghurs, an ethnic
minority fighting for self-government in Xinjiang Province.
China's foreign ministry protested and demanded that they be
returned to China. Later, an Egyptian, an Algerian and a
Uzbek also came from Guantánamo to Albania.
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