Ilir Tsouko

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Alexis Marie Adams |Ilir Tsouko

Two major proposals led by Jared Kushner and a new airport championed by the Albanian government focus on an area prized for its biodiversity. Are they a sign of things to come? Flamingos glide across the surface of the Narta lagoon, near the mouth of the Vjosa River. Two major proposals led by Jared Kushner and a new airport championed by the Albanian government focus on an area prized for its biodiversity. Are they a sign of things to come?

Nov 5, 2024 | nzz.ch | Katharina Bracher |Ilir Tsouko

On Oct. 16, the Carabinieri brought the first migrants to Gjader. Aleksander Preka had been preparing for this moment for six months. His country was writing European migration history. And his community was at the center of it all. The mayor of Gjader in northern Albania had just seen the pixelated faces on the television screen hanging above his store counter. He saw a dozen young men in white flip-flops, heads bowed, shuffling to the reception center down at Shengjin Harbor.

Jun 5, 2024 | zeit.de | Ilir Tsouko

Noch sieht man nichts von der vermeintlichen Zukunftsvision der europäischen Migrationspolitik: keine Sicherheitskameras, kein Stacheldraht, keine Mauern. Nichts deutet darauf hin, dass ab August in einem kleinen Dorf im albanischen Nirgendwo 3.000 Menschen pro Monat in Camps unterkommen sollen. Anfang Mai grast eine Schafherde an der ehemaligen Flugpiste in Gjadër, einem katholisch geprägten Örtchen in Nordalbanien. Zur Zeit des Kommunismus stand hier ein Militärflughafen.

Jan 3, 2024 | aramcoworld.com | Tristan Rutherford |Ilir Tsouko

As a 15-year-old boy, Bledar Kola left his native Albania to enter Italy on a boat, illegally. “I had no plan or script,” Bledar said. “The only thing I knew at that time was that anywhere apart from my homeland was going to be better.” With no family members at his side, once he made it to southern Italy, he embarked on a journey to the United Kingdom that took several months. He found a way to reach Milan. Soon he took off again, hidden in a lorry, heading toward France.