Albanian PM seeks fourth term with ambitious promise of EU membership

An employee handles the mail-in ballots at a count centre in Tirana, Albania. Picture: Vlasov Sulaj/AP

Prime Minister Edi Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania’s prime minister in a general election on Sunday, after taking on his political nemesis in a boisterous campaign dominated by the country’s uphill effort to join the European Union.

Mr Rama’s Socialist Party says it can deliver EU membership in five years, sticking to an ambitious pledge while battling conservative opponents with public recriminations and competing promises of pay hikes.