Why the Albanian opposition is disrupting parliament with flares, makeshift barricades and fires

By LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — For months, Albanian opposition parties have used flares and noise to disrupt Parliament, in protest at what they describe as the authoritarian rule of the governing Socialist Party. On Thursday, lawmakers passed the annual budget and other laws, despite opposition claims that the Socialists have blocked the establishment of commissions to investigate allegations of government corruption. The disturbances started in October just before prosecutors accused former president Sali Berisha of the center-right Democratic Party of corruption. The disruption could be an obstacle to much-needed reforms at a time when the European Union has agreed to start the first chapters of reconciling Albanian and EU laws.