Italy flew emergency aid in to Albania on Monday and flew out its prime minister, Bashkim Fino, for talks in Rome on how Europe can help pull his country out of chaos.
A Italian air force Hercules transport plane landed at Tirana airport with six tons of emergency medical aid requested by Fino for the northern part of the country, which is under government control.Italy has already sent in some two tons of medical aid for the rebel-held south. Local committees run major towns in the region, though lawlessness is reported to be rife due to the activities of armed gangs.
The aid cargo arrived at Tirana airport shortly before an Austrian Airlines jet flew in, the first Western commercial flight to land there since the airport was closed last week as the country descended into anarchy.
The arrival of the Austrian airliner on a scheduled flight from Vienna was the most visible sign yet that the country, at least the government-controlled part of it, was returning to normal.
Last week civilians looted thousands of weapons from army depots, following the example of rebels in the south demanding the resignation of President Sali Berisha, and the army and police evaporated to leave the country under gun law.
Fino, appointed earlier this month to head an all-party government preparing early elections this summer, was holding talks in Rome later Monday with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to discuss international aid and the effect a mass exodus of Albanian refugees has had on Italy.
The refugees continued to arrive in Italy by boat across the Adriatic on Monday. A ship with around 350 refugees arrived at the southern port of Brindisi and the coastguard said another boat with 100 aboard was on its way.
They joined nearly 12,000 of their compatriots who have fled the chaos in their country since March 13.
The potential for violence in Albania, with so many guns in private hands, was illustrated on Monday when the Italian news agency Ansa reported shots had been fired at an Italian patrol boat from a trawler carrying refugees outside Brindisi.
The agency said armed police and coastguards wearing bulletproof vests escorted the trawler into Brindisi, where they boarded it and took away one man.
In Brussels, European Union foreign ministers were meeting Monday to discuss among other issues whether conditions on the ground in Albania would allow humanitarian aid to be delivered.