More Good News From the Balkans. No Kidding.

Sali Berisha, a towering figure of Albanian politics since the early 1990s, finally admitted defeat in Sunday's elections this evening, resigning as head of his party and wishing his opponents well. There's no cause for mourning.

Berisha's departure is the latest in a rash of big news from a region that at times has seemed hopeless. Berisha has been prime minister for eight years. He was also president from 1992 to 1997, so Albanians have to be at least in their 30s to remember a time when he wasn't a key figure in political life. He brought Albania into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and paved the country with roads. The last few years, however, have been blighted by scandals for which no senior official has been brought to account.