Albania sets diplomatic ties with Afghanistan

TIRANA, Aug. 16 – The Albanian government decided Wednesday to establish diplomatic ties with Afghanistan, the press office said. A government meeting charged the Foreign Ministry to continue with concrete steps like appointing an ambassador, though it was not clear whether the country would open an embassy in Kabul, or it would be covered by another embassy in another country in the region. Albania has diplomatic ties with 155 countries worldwide. Also Wednesday Albania’s 9th rotating 22-member army peacekeeping unit left for Afghanistan, where it serves under a Turkish army unit command. “Your mission is a noble one. Allow me to express the gratitude to your contribution and commitment, and the message that you pass to the international partners,” said Vice Defense Minister Petrit Karabina at the ceremony held at an army unit in Poshnje, Berat. Together with Macedonia and Croatia, Albania is also part of a joint small medical unit to assist NATO’s military personnel and residents of Kabul. Albania, a small, predominantly Muslim country on the Adriatic Sea which is hoping to be invited in 2008 to join NATO, has also deployed small army units to Iraq and Bosnia.