Regional defense ministers meet in Tirana

TIRANA, Oct. 12 – Defense ministers from Southeastern European countries have discussed how a joint army task force would cope with natural emergency situations in the region.
The Southeastern Defense Ministerial (SEDM) meeting was attended by ministers from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Alexander Vershbow, and Georgia and Moldova as observer countries, to discuss strengthening military ties, regional security and participation in international military missions.
Albanian Defense Minister Arben Imami said Tuesday they had discussed how to include an emergency task force as part of the South East European Brigade, or SEEBRIG, created in 1998 to coordinate regional military and security efforts, in order to cut operational cost.
His ambition to create it at this meeting was postponed “for the future.”
The ministers met in Tirana strongly determined to promote enduring peace, stability and security in Southeastern Europe, said their final statement.
The ministers welcomed Montenegro and Serbia into SEDM as full-fledged members contributing to the security and cooperation at the regional level.
They discussed on the status of current SEDM Projects and noted that these activities are continuing to contribute to strengthening the security, cooperation and stability in the region.
The MPFSEE Ministers agreed that all states should maintain basic combat and disaster-relief capabilities that could be offered to SEEBRIG in order to be used in specific operations. The ministers agreed that in order for SEEBRIG to be more adaptable and deployable in a wider range of situations, it has to be properly resourced and properly managed.
The MPFSEE Ministers reemphasized the commitment of SEEBRIG to the broad and cooperative approach to security in the Euro-Atlantic area.
Defense Ministers from Southeast are meeting in Albania and expressed concern about the proliferation of small arms from former Communist military arsenals and Balkan wars.
They pledged to work more closely to prevent the spread of looted and unrecovered weaponry. Albania’s military stores were looted during a revolt in 1997.
Ministers expressed their understanding concerning the negative impact of the enduring existence of large amounts of small arms and light weapons on the security environment of the SEE region, as well as their will to work on coordinating the control and downsizing of small arms and light weapons in the region, in order to substantially reduce the risks stemming from uncontrolled transfers and use of armaments.
SEDM Ministers expressed their continuous support for ongoing NATO-led operations and reiterated their commitment to contribute to NATO’s efforts strengthening security and stability in Southeastern Europe.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who took part at the meeting, considered the meeting a landmark event for Albania in the framework of regional cooperation which is of special value in the integration process of the regional countries into the NATO.
He also pledged support for other countries of the region joining the NATO.
Berisha also urged the SEDM to soon welcome Kosovo as a member.
But Vershbow responded at a news conference at the end of the meeting that Kosovo had no Defense ministry and armed forces and the invitation was a question of the future, not at this moment.