No change for Albania’s troops in Afghanistan

TIRANA, Nov. 15 – At a time when all NATO member countries are hinting at or taking concrete actions to reduce their participation in the mission in Afghanistan, Albania made it clear again on Tuesday that it has no such plans, unless the Alliance thinks differently in the future.
That was made clear by Albanian Defense Minister Arben Imami who took part in the proceedings of the 57th General Assembly of the North Atlantic Treaty Association held in capital Tirana.
Albania has 286 troops in Afghanistan spread in different areas and spheres of life.
The Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) is the Atlantic international organization that includes national organizations of about 43 member and partners countries of NATO, including the Atlantic Council of Albania, which is headed by Deputy Defense Minister Arjan Starova.
This is the first year that such an assembly is held in Albania.
Imami expressed his country’s gratitude to “all those countries that opened their doors to receive us in the great family.”
Tirana has taken part in international peacekeeping missions since 2003, most recently in Afghanistan, where it is ranked at the top of the list as one of the countries with the greatest potential, taking into account the number of troops and corresponding budget.
NATO is scheduled to make the transition period in late 2014-2015. “We will have our combat troops that will conduct humanitarian missions only by respecting the Afghan sovereignty and direction (leadership) and this will be done during the transition period,” said Imami.
“Albania and the Albanian government will continue to stay in Afghanistan as long as the Alliance will require us to conduct in this manner broad operations against terrorism,” said the Minister.
U.S. and international aid to Afghanistan is expected to decline by the end of 2014.