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Albania vs. Greece

Transnational Issues

AlbaniaGreece
Disputes - international

none

Greece and Turkey continue discussions to resolve their complex maritime, air, territorial, and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea; the mass migration of unemployed Albanians still remains a problem for developed countries, chiefly Greece and Italy

Illicit drugsactive transshipment point for Southwest Asian opiates, hashish, and cannabis transiting the Balkan route and - to a lesser extent - cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe; significant source country for cannabis production; ethnic Albanian narcotrafficking organizations active and expanding in Europe; vulnerable to money laundering associated with regional trafficking in narcotics, arms, contraband, and illegal aliensa gateway to Europe for traffickers smuggling cannabis and heroin from the Middle East and Southwest Asia to the West and precursor chemicals to the East; some South American cocaine transits or is consumed in Greece; money laundering related to drug trafficking and organized crime
Refugees and internally displaced personsstateless persons: 1,031 (2020)

note: 11,827 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-January 2021)
refugees (country of origin): 26,696 (Syria), 17,685 (Afghanistan), 9,614 (Iraq) (2019)

stateless persons: 5,557 (2020)

note: 1,209,645 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-August 2021); as of the end of December 2020, an estimated 119,700 migrants and refugees were stranded in Greece since 2015-16

Source: CIA Factbook