Defense Ministry remains unsure of budget plans

TIRANA, Nov. 22 – Defense Minister Arben Imami said he was pleased with the amount of money set for his institution in 2012.
But he also said that a reform is expected to continue and that reform may likely include job cuts in the ministry and military command.
Albania’s army has been in continuous reforms in the last two decades trying to restructure its army swollen since the communist regime and also to get rid of excess ammunition left from that time too.
Since 2009 Albania is a NATO member and it also needs to adapt its military policies to its standards. One of them is also to have a budget of two percent of its GDP.
True most of the NATO member countries do not abide by that rule because of many factors in their countries and Albania was mentioned as a good example to have fulfilled that standard when it became a member of the alliance.
It seems that cannot be said any more. Now it has less then 1.5 percent of its GDP committed to the Defense Ministry.
Imami said he was satisfied with more than 20 billion leks committed to his ministry and mentioned that the dismantle of the excess ammunition will continue intensively next year.
The plans for next year are to modernize the armaments, buy the French helicopters it has signed a contract, possess the other two military ships built with the Dutch assistance, maintenance the infrastructure and also cope with emergency situations.
Imami said that figure would be enough to comply with the goals they have set.
Albania has built a professional army it needs to update and reform continuously to achieve the NATO standards.
It has also taken part in international peacekeeping missions starting from Bosnia, then in Afghanistan, Iraq and more. It continues to have almost 300 troops in Afghanistan and a good part of the budget will be to support that mission.
Unlike many other western countries, Albania has not said it will reduce or withdraw its troops from there, despite the global financial crisis.
The minister said that remains to be done only if the NATO would require that. At the same time the government is trying to adapt to the new strategy NATO is applying in Afghanistan like supporting projects for its infrastructure or assisting Afghani police and army get trained.