After nearly a year in Albania, where thousands of Afghans fled to escape the Taliban takeover, Mir Hasibullah’s prolonged wait for the U.S. visa he was promised has cast a shadow on his dream of reaching freedom in the United States.

Under Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatos’ leadership, after the fall of communism, more than 400 parishes were reopened and several new churches were built.

Albania will create a sovereign Muslim state in Tirana for the Bektashi religious order, along the lines of the Vatican in Rome, to preserve and promote religious tolerance, Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Saturday.

Tuesday's boat was the first to arrive in Albania following a monthslong pause. The European Court of Justice is set to review the scheme in February.

Archbishop Anastasios, an ecumenical movement leader credited with helping to revitalize the Orthodox Church in Muslim-majority Albania, has died at the age of 95

Italy's navy on Sunday was taking 49 migrants it picked up in international waters to detention facilities in Albania, the interior ministry said, resuming a plan to curb sea arrivals mired in legal controversy.

Italy says it is transferring 49 migrants picked up in the Mediterranean to new processing centers in Albania, in the third such attempt facing hurdles by courts

Archbishop Anastasios, head of the Orthodox Church of Albania, died at a hospital in Athens at the age of 95 on Saturday, the church announced.

The faith of the Orthodox community of Albania was certainly embodied in the life of our dear brother,” the pope said in his Jan. 27 message.

The funeral of Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania was held in Tirana, with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presiding over the ceremony. Dignitaries from Greece and Albania, including Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis,

Thousands of Albanians gathered in the capital to pay their last respects to Archbishop Anastasios, who revived the country’s Orthodox Christian Church after the fall of the country’s communist regime in 1990.