TIRANA, Albania July 19, 2012 (AP)

Albania has approved electoral reforms following pressure from the European Union and opposition allegations that past votes have been rigged.

Lawmakers on Thursday voted 127-2 in favor of constitutional amendments that allow greater transparency in the selection of key electoral commission officials and introduce digital voter identity checks in the capital, Tirana. Parliament also approved a pilot project to computerize the vote count in the city of Fier.The changes, which will apply to the next national elections planned for 2013, follow a key request for electoral reform from the EU, which Albania hopes to join. But they do not address small opposition parties’ demands for a national proportional system of representation. The small parties say the current regional system makes it hard for them to gain representation.

As a supporter of many initiatives in the field of health, the Speaker of Parliament, Josefina Topalli was invited to the inauguration today of the fertility clinic at Hygeia Hospital in Tirana. In her speech before the guests, Speaker of the Assembly stressed that while a few years ago opening a fertility clinic seemed almost impossible, today it has become a reality and is the most beautiful news for all couples who wish to have a child. “For me it is a pleasure and a privilege to be present at this event so special and so important. A few years ago to open such a clinic, a fertilization clinic looked like something entirely illusionary, elusive, impossible for Albania. Today the news of the opening of the new is important, it is a beautiful story, it is the possibility of starting a new life for those couples who wish to have children and that God still has not made it possible. Therefore, I want to congratulate the Hygeia Hospital, I want to thank them for the presence of doctors who have come here to open this center. It’s big news that those couples who want to start a new life with a son or daughter and will enjoy them for all their lives. I think that it is written here “Boy or girl, the only thing that’s left is fate” is a reality. Therefore, I give my best wishes” said Mrs. Topalli. Later, the Speaker of the Assembly cut the inaugural ribbon and visited the premises of the fertility clinic where doctors and professors informed her on modern methods to be applied in the clinic.