Albania's 2014 budget raises police salaries to improve security

Albania's 2014 budget provides higher salaries for police officers in a bid to improve the country's security and law and order situations. The 2014 state budget includes a 20-25 percent pay raise for most of the state police officers starting from Jan. 1, the official news agency ATA reported Tuesday. The budget allocated for state police has increased 14 percent, according to budget figures from the interior ministry. Official statistics show that salaries of Albania's state police officers were among the lowest compared with its neighboring countries such as Macedonia. Albanian Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri expressed the wish that the salary increase could translate into greater safety of Albanian citizens.