Certification of the Light Infantry Group - Battalion by NATO, Peleshi: We will increase the participation in the Alliance's missions

At the end of the Certification Training of the Light Infantry Group - Battalion (GBKL), "Biza - 22" at the National Training Ground of Biza was organized the Day of Distinguished Visitors.

Defence Minister Niko Peleshi, accompanied by the Chief of General Staff of the FA, Brigadier General Arben Kingji, during his speech, expressed his appreciation and gratitude to all those who contributed to the successful accomplishement of this exercise, which, as he said, is considered as one of the most significant achievements of the Armed Forces, the Certification of the Light Infantry Group - Battalion according to NATO standards.


"The Alliance's request for certification and increasing the level of readiness of its forces becomes even more 'immediate' today in the new security reality, severely compromised after Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. The protection of the territories of the Alliance is the primary task of us and our allies, a task which we are not allowed not to fulfill.", - said Minister Peleshi, while thanking the strategic ally, the United States of America, for the support.
The Defence Minister said that: "The hard work of several teams of the New Jersey Guard, but also the attachment to GBKL of a special American structure, Special Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB), makes it possible to achieve our objective in a relatively record time."

During his speech, Minister Peleshi also spoke about the challenges that await the Armed Forces in the near future: "I want to encourage our Armed Forces, that with responsibility and professionalism, engage in the realization of national and joint exercises planned with NATO and the American Command in Europe (USAREUR). The next challenge is undoubtedly the "Defender Europe 2023" exercise. Following the success of Defender Europe 21, in this exercise, the International Brigade, part of "Task Force South", will be established in our country, with contributions from the countries of the Initiative "USA - Charter of the Adriatic". Allow me to reaffirm our commitment to the NATO missions in Kosovo (KFOR), Latvia (eFP), Iraq, as well as to missions led by the UN (South Sudan) and the European Union (EUFOR, BiH). The year 2023 will be a challenging year for our Armed Forces, which will have to, in addition to increasing the presence in the current missions, also participate in the naval operations "FOCOPS" and "Agean Sea" with an Iliria-class ship ", - said the Defence Minister.

The Light Infantry Group - Battalion underwent operational evaluation, according to NATO's "Combat Readiness Evaluation" (CREVAL) system in the "Biza - 22" certification exercise, thus receiving the "Combat Ready" certification.
On the Distinguished Visitors Day, on the occasion of this achievement, foreign ambassadors accredited to Albania, deputies of the parliamentary Security Committee, as well as attachés of allied countries also participated.