TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Bashkim Fino, who was appointed to shepherd Albania out of almost total chaos when fraudulent investment schemes collapsed 24 years ago and angry crowds looted military installations nationwide, has died. He was 58. The former prime minister’s family and his governing Socialist party said Fino died Monday in a hospital, where he had been treated for several days after contracting COVID-19. The government declared Monday a day of national mourning, with flags flying at half-staff. Fino was credited with restoring normality in a country where central and local government structures had collapsed in the face of the protests, during which about 3,000 people died.
