Albanians are going to the polls today to elect a 140-seat parliament. The latest surveys indicate that there will be a neck-and-neck race between Prime Minister Sali Berisha's centre-right Democratic Party and the opposition Socialist Party of Edi Rama.

Albania, which has a population of some 3.6 million people, is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Tirana has signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union. The EU is closely monitoring the country's political and economic policies.

Both main parties favour EU membership. There have been widespread allegations of fraud in all elections since 1991. The EU says it considers the elections a test of Albania's suitability for admission and that it will keep a close eye on the conduct of the polling to ensure that they adhere to international standards of fairness.

Photo of PM Sali Berisha by Serkan Eldeleklioglu-Bora Omerogullari-Ozan Atasoy (flickr)