Betting shops and casinos in Albania will be prohibit from 1 January

Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, supported the introduction of regulations clamping down on online gambling, said that all premises where bets can be placed should relocate to the outskirts of cities from residential areas by December 31, according to the Transitions Online news website.

Now operators less than three months must to find new bases, with many expected to struggle to find appropriate locations in such a short time period. Rama also warned media outlets that if they fail to stop showing adverts of unregulated gambling services, they would be closed by force.

Prome Minister has led a campaign against gambling in Albania since his socialist party swept to power five years ago in a landslide election victory. Within five months of his triumph, some 1,300 betting premises had undergone inspections, with many being closed down due to allegations of financial mismanagement.