Attacks
Web-Portal "Numbeo" assesses the level of hate crime in Albania as “very low” with moderate level of general crime.
In 2013, a priest was assaulted and suffered bodily harm during the attack on the Virgin Mary’s Church in Premeti. An Albanian citizen of Greek origin was attacked in Premeti on the 19th of August.
There was only one case of interreligious conflict in 2014 – when an endocrinologist has been verbally abusing a nurse for wearing a Muslim headscarf. The doctor was later subjected to administrative penalties.
In 2015, there was a secret demolition of the St. Athanasios Orthodox Church of the Dhermi settlement in the Himara region, where representatives of both Albanian and Greek communities live. This was state’s response to ethnic clashes in the region.
While the Albanian government has stated that only one hate crime has been committed in five years, NGOs, and with them ODIHR, find this information to be inaccurate. In particular, in 2021 several acts of discrimination were committed against LGBT persons who were not allowed into cafes, refused service in cabs, refused to rent rooms, and so forth. There was a case of a transgender person being beaten in the street. According to the European Roma Rights Center, in February 2020, two Egyptians were insulted by Roma and physically assaulted by police officers. One victim was injured and found unconscious and covered in blood. According to Amnesty International, female candidates also faced hate speech during the March 2021 campaign.
