As of this moment (10:48) there is still no official announcement from Rinas airport, although it was anticipated that there would be an announcement on the situation after 10 am. On the official website of Tirana International Airport are published the canceled flights, those that have changed the time as well as the delayed flights, although for most of them there is no announcement.
Journalists on the ground report that the situation may change in the coming hours and a statement by the Minister of Infrastructure, Belinda Balluku, is currently expected.
Prime Minister Edi Rama from the city of Gjirokastra said :
"What is intolerable and unjustifiable is that we lost yesterday's load of vaccines and this is really painful in a time of war where every second and every minute counts and we are not leaving a second unused. One thing is for sure, there is no chance that destructive forces, blind forces, forces of the past that want at all costs to take the future hostage will stop us in this process. "They made the wrong calculations and undertook to challenge the most wrong government and prime minister."
The lawyer of the controllers, Rezart Kthupi told Euronews Albania that the police accompanied 24 controllers, some of whom volunteered. Kthupi said that currently 4 of the escorts have been released and "there are no charges against them".
"Abuse of duty is a criminal offense that refers exclusively to public employees, which means that you have to be an employee of public administration, in the case of air traffic controllers, I do not know what is the reasoning that the prosecution makes to include in the element of the figure of the criminal offense of abuse of office. " - he said.
Euronews reports that some of the controllers were notified by phone and voluntarily went to the police.
According to Top Channel, controllers require:
- reinstatement of colleagues at work
- abrogation of board decisions
- Restoration of full salary under the collective agreement
- full financial transparency for 2020
- a union member to be a board member.
Minister Balluku said yesterday that the strike is illegal because we are dealing with a vital sector. Meanwhile, the Control Tower at Rinas Airport is under the supervision of the army.
