TIRANA, Feb. 04 – Discussions on the 5G networks and cybersecurity within the Balkans dominated the security forum held in the US Senate premises in Washington on MONDAY, during which Former Albanian Defense Minister, Fatmir Mediu, stated that Albania would continue to cooperate with the U.S. to enable a secure 5G network. Part of the forum were current and former officials from Southeast European countries, as well as a number of US Congress lawmakers.
“When we talk about 5G networks, we need to talk about a secure 5G, because that’s the most difficult issue. Chinese technology can never export secure networks, they can’t, but we will. We have developed technologies that we will share with friends and allies and protect not only the confidential government files but also intellectual property for large companies, banks, hospitals, and even private phones, ” explains General Jones.
Recently, the United States has expressed concern that the sharing of intelligence with NATO partner countries could be compromised if these countries entrust the construction of 5G networks to unreliable third parties. Former Albanian Defense Minister, Fatmir Mediu has been co-ordinating the security forum for several years in collaboration with US Senator James Inhofe.
“The idea of ”‹”‹5G has recently been launched in Albania and fortunately Albania is at an advanced step in relations with the US, as it is the third country that is signing a cooperation agreement with the US. In this respect, the mobile companies that we have, such as Vodafone or Telecom, are already committed to this stance regarding 5G security and the avoidance of investments that undermine the security of our national interests, especially our NATO partnership. ”
China is rapidly building fifth-generation networks, and in the US Congress there are already concerns that Chinese telecommunications giant ‘Huawei’, which benefits from generous government funding, is trying to gain a dominant position in the technology.
The US administration sees this as a threat to US national security as well as to the security of shared classified information with allied nations. “As far as Albania is concerned, the fact that they do not have 5G means they do not have Chinese 5G, so there is still hope,” said General Jones.
Last month, a group of US senators proposed a 1 billion dollar bill to support US technology innovations that could accelerate the development of secure 5G telecommunications networks.
So far, efforts to persuade partners not to let Huawei into their networks have had limited success because of the lack of alternatives the US government can provide.
