It started today, at the Ministry of Defence, the workshop with topic “Intelligence and Democracy”. At the opening ceremony of the workshop attended the Minister of Defence, Mrs. Mimi Kodheli, the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Jeronim Bazo, the Ambassador of the United States in Tirana, Mr. Alexander Arvizu, members of the Parliament of Albania, the Director of the Albanian Intelligence Service, Mr. Visho Ajazi Lika, as well as representatives of Defence Intelligence Service.
At the opening remarks, Defence Minister Mimi Kodheli said that, the collection, processing and exchange of information in accordance with the needs of the Government, is a very important tool not only in terms of providing adequate and accurate information, but also for sound and reliable assessments.
According to Mrs. Kodheli, “When we talk about ‘intelligence services’, immediately, we think about the ‘secrecy’. Therefore, the main challenge is, which seeks a solution, who to guide these services and organizations, dealing with intelligence, respect the democratic system.”
While the Ambassador of the United States in Tirana, Mr. Alexander Arvizu, in his remarks emphasized that, the role of intelligence service and parliamentary oversight are very sensitive issues. According to Mr. Arvizu, it should never be allowed to make public classified information.
The “Intelligence and Democracy” workshop, organized by the Office of Defence Cooperation (ODC) at the Ministry of Defence, will end on May 2, 2014.
The participants in this workshop are Professor James J. Wirtz, Dean of the International Studies Faculty and at the same time, Professor of the Department of National Security Affairs, Mr. Scott Jasper, Lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School, Centre for Civil-Military Relations, and Florina Cristiana (Cris) Matei, Lecturer with long experience in the field of intelligence, democracy and civil-military relations. The team of the professors is from the Centre for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR), Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.
