TIRANA, Aug. 30 – Albania’s president has sworn in the country’s new top military officer, Brig. Gen. Bardhyl Kollcaku, a former army intelligence director with international experience and training.
Kollcaku will serve as the Chief of the General Staff of the Albanian Armed Forces and was sworn in at a ceremony at the President’s Office.
“I feel honoured to take on this new role,” Kollcaku said at the ceremony, adding that under his leadership Albania’s armed forces will continue to meet NATO standards and requests.
Kollcaku, a brigadier general with a lengthy and progressive career in the Albanian military, graduated from the military academy in 1990. He rose through the ranks and has received a lot of training since, including in the United States. Kollcaku served in various NATO and United Nations missions, his last post being Chief of the Defense Intelligence and Security Agency.
President Ilir Meta, who is also Albania’s constitutional commander in chief, said Kollcaku’s appointment is an important event for the leadership of the Albanian military.
Meta said in addition to recently bravely fighting wildfires at home, Albania’s military has 153 servicemen currently serving in Afghanistan, the Aegean Sea, Mali, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and all Albanians are grateful for their service.
“The question of national security and defence, the improvement of defence budget, the modernization and increase of operational capacities of the Armed Forces, and the fulfilment of Albania’s NATO obligations will have my strong support in the next five years,” Meta said.
