Mediu visits Prague to get support for NATO membership

TIRANA, April 3 – Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu held a three-day visit to the Czech Republic this week to meet with senior Czech officials and get their support in the membership efforts into NATO. Mediu met with his Czech counterpart Vlasta Parkanova thanking him for the support at the Riga summit last year. “NATO has the full support of the Albanian public opinion and the political subjects,” said Mediu. NATO integration is linked not only with the reform of the armed forces but also with the strengthening of the rule of law, the judicial system and the fight against corruption and organized crime, he said. “Euro-Atlantic integration and the membership invitation are our main national goal,” said Mediu. The minister said that in 2008 the military budget would be two percent of the GDP, as required by NATO and in 2010 the country would have a full professional army that would continue contributions to the international missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia. Parkanova said his country would continue support to the Albanian army reform. Czech Republic will lead the joint medical team of the Adriatic Charter countries in Afghanistan.
Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Vondra said that Albania’s participation in the international missions and its ‘strategic position in the region’ were factors strengthening Tirana’s membership chances.