February 14, 2019 - 3:25 AM
TIRANA, Albania - Albania's parliament on Thursday suspended a session on neighbour North Macedonia's accession to NATO after an opposition lawmaker threw ink at the prime minister.
Lawmakers were to vote to ratify North Macedonia's NATO accession. But the session was disrupted when Lulzim Basha, main opposition centre-right Democratic party leader, harshly criticized the leftist government for corruption.
As Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama admonished him, opposition lawmaker Edi Paloka threw ink at Rama.
Paloka was asked to leave the hall and suspended for 10 days from parliament.
Lawmakers later voted unanimously in favour of the NATO accession protocol for North Macedonia.
Talat Xhaferi, visiting Macedonian speaker present in the hall, thanked Albania for that "solemn act."
The opposition is planning a rally Saturday asking for a transitory Cabinet before municipal elections in June.
Albania, a NATO member since 2009, is expecting a positive answer form the European Union to launch full membership negotiations.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019