TIRANA, Dec. 22 – Russia’s Ambassador to Tirana Alexander Karpushin has expressed concerns about the safety of the main embassy building in Tirana, and has asked Albanian authorities to increase security outside the building, following the assassination of Russia’s ambassador in Turkey and online threats made against Russian embassies around the world.
“We are concerned and have intensified security measures. We have demanded assistance from Albanian authorities,” Karpushin said in an interview for Ora News.
Karpushin said that the existing building of the Russian Embassy is rented and lacks security.
“We cannot guarantee maximum security in this building which does not belong to Russia,” the diplomat said.
Karpushin called on the government of Albania to grant the embassy some space to build a better embassy.
“Once upon a time, Soviet Union built a very good embassy in Tirana which was confiscated by Enver Hoxha’s regime. The building is now used by Albania’s president,” he said.
Nevertheless, Moscow demands from Albania to meet the obligation of granting Russia 18 thousand square meters of land to build a new embassy.
“We hope that we can receive a land where we can build a new embassy with maximum security features,” Ambassador Karpushin said. “I discussed the matter with Prime Minister Edi Rama as well. This is an obligation of Albania’s government.”
The Russian ambassador added, “Albania must show understanding in the face of this risk and help us to ensure and guarantee the safety of our diplomats and their relatives.”
During the interview, Karpushin called on Albania to withdraw from its support on sanctions against Russia and use the example of Macedonia. He dismissed claims and speculations of a “Russian threat in the Balkans.”
“There is a lot of speculation over the Russian threat in the Balkans or in Albania. I am an ambassador of the Russian Federation in Albania and I do not understand what the speculation is about,” he said. “Russia is only interested to expand economic and humanitarian collaboration with all of the region, including Albania.”
