Albania’s airspace to be monitored from Italy

TIRANA, July 20 – Italy’s air force squadrons will patrol Albanian airspace, following the country’s accession into the NATO alliance in April.
Along its efforts to reform the army to get the alliance membership, Albanian armed forces have no longer have the ailing MIG fighter jet fleet.
That means that now as a NATO member country, as of April this year, its airspace is guaranteed by the alliance.
Eurofighter and F-16 jets based in the Gioia dell Colle Air Base, close to Bari in southern Italy, will conduct the patrols.
The same thing Italian jets have done for Slovenia since 2007.
Besides providing added security for Albania, such patrols will come with some attached costs for the tiny Balkan country.
Albania will still need to upgrade its radar and communication systems.
Albania, together with Croatia, officially became NATO members on 1 April 2009.