Albania to establish committee for national census

A commission of 12 ministers will be established soon to co-ordinate the next census in Albania, State Minister Genc Pollo announced on Thursday. He explained that the headcount will also record ethnic and religious composition in an effort to end frequent disagreement on those figures. Experts and academics have criticised this aspect of the census, arguing that it would allow many Albanians to embrace Greek nationality and benefit from the higher pensions Greece pays to its minorities. Athens says there are about 150,000 Greek minority citizens living in Albania, while authorities say the actual number is closer to 30,000.