Replacement of Albania’s top military representative to NATO causes political debate between president and government
TIRANA, March 26 – The Albanian government and the country’s head of state, President Bujar Nishani, have been involved in a very public spat stemming from the government’s desire to replace the country’s top military representative to NATO headquarters in Brussels.
The Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces Chief of Staff have ordered Rear Admiral Kristaq Gerveni to leave his current position and return to Albania for reassignment, a move the presidency says was done without its consent.
A presidential spokeswoman said in a press conference the Socialist-led government is politically exploiting the armed forces.
She added that the president alone is in charge of ending the mandate of the ambassador to NATO. The presidential statement also directly urged the armed forces not to be politically used by the government.
In Albania, the president is constitutionally the head of the armed forces and is in charge of approving ambassadors, working together with the government on proposals. But the clash is part of a wider trend, as President Nishani is a former official of the opposition Democratic Party and has been involved in other public spats with the Socialist-led government over a variety of issues.
A day before the presidential press conference, the army leadership had supported Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli’s order that Gerveni must return to Albania because his term is over. Gerveni himself had said he had to wait for an order from the president.
The army then threatened Gerveni with a disciplinary procedures unless he respected the order.
The government says he is not being sacked, as he has completed his term, but Nishani has refused to replace the rear admiral, who has a high public profile in Albania due to his involvement in the controversial negotiations over the maritime border between Albania and Greece.
Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli has told the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Commission that Gerveni’s mandate has been completed since January and he should return home.
The minister also responded to criticism from the opposition saying that she has not taken over any competence of the president, but has only applied the legal procedures for replacing the rear admiral.
She said that Gerveni’s term was over formally in January and practically in March and consequently she has issued an administrative order, adding that the president should follow the laws and proceed in a regular manner.
Gerveni had come under attack from government-friendly media outlets on several occasions, with leaks that he used the wrong rank on his uniform in a NATO meeting and with a leak this week of a request for recommendation letter for a NATO civilian post he wants to occupy after he leaves military service in Albania.
Meanwhile Gerveni himself has said he is following the country’s laws and will not return to Albania unless ordered to so by the commander in chief, President Nishani.
