A5 conference in Tirana

TIRANA, Oct. 10 – The 16th conference of the Adriatic Charter A-5 was held in the Albanian capital Tirana with the participation of some senior military officials from the Balkan region.
But there was no official from Serbia, apparently because of the presence of the military official from Kosovo.
The Adriatic Charter is an association formed by Albania, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and United States of America for the purpose of aiding their attempts to join NATO. The Charter was signed on 2 May 2003 in Tirana under the aegis of USA. The role of the United States has caused some confusion; in discussions in the other member states, the Charter is often called the US-Adriatic Charter. In September 2008 Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina were invited to join the Charter and joined on December 4, 2008. Serbia accepted observer status at the same time. On April 1, 2009, Albania and Croatia became the first of the group to join NATO.
The meeting served to further strengthen cooperation among the member states. The cooperation covers not only the military exchange of experience and more, but also the fight against corruption, weapon, drugs, tobacco and human trafficking, and also the organized crime in general.