During the NATO Summit being held in Warsaw, Defence Minister Mrs. Kodheli held a meeting with her Turkish Counterpart Fikri Işık. Initially Minister Kodheli condemned the attack at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, and expressed her condolences to the families of the victims.
Mrs. Kodheli thanked her counterpart for the support that Turkey gives to the Albanian Armed Forces, as well as for the cooperation in framework of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan .
Both counterparts discussed on the recent challenges facing the Alliance at its borders, Eastern and Southern. During their talk, Minister Kodheli also recalled the NATO Center of Excellence for studying the phenomenon of Foreign Fighters, which will be established in Albania.
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Kodheli: Albania part of NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force and NATO Mission in the Aegean Sea
In her response to the interest of media, minister Kodheli spoke about the importance of Warsaw Summit, the situation under which is being held, and the decisions expected to be taken. Minister Kodheli noted that we are dealing with a difficult under tension situation that has raised big questions on global security. This means that countries which share common values, NATO members or not, even if partners, want to work hard for assuring security that will provide a safe and secure future, we all look from here where we are present, the NATO Summit. “Today, more than 60 Heads of State, along with their Ministers of Foreign Affairs or also Ministers of Defence, Allies, Partners meet to discuss the future of the world "- said the Minister Kodheli, who recalled the commitment of Albania derived from these decisions. "We will have a Very High Readiness Task Force in which Albania will participate with a Company. We made all the preparations necessary for the company to be deployable within a very short time frame.
In order to be at this point of readiness we have attended many exercises. The most successful exercise was this summer, one of the greatest NATO exercises. We have been part of another “Anakonda” Exercise in Poland, in order to be familiarized with the environment. Our battalion, part of which companies are, is equipped with arms and ammunition equal to NATO standards. This happens for the first time.
Previously our soldiers didn’t have their own weapons, today it is quite different, personal military equipment is equal to NATO standards, and strategic transport of Second Infantry Battalion and of respective Companies is carried out at our expenses, something that places Albania at a serious dignitary position, well-prepared for any case. This does not necessarily mean that our attention, at first, is not on our territory, on the Albanian border protection and security of Albanian citizens. In addition, not by chance, and to be in view of this matter, we will take part on a mission in the South for the first time on the sea with a ship of ours that will have a presence in rotation, which is based on EU Frontex Mission regarding the management of the grave situation in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea due to refugees.
Part of this NATO mission today is Greece, Turkey, led by Germany in which we will also participate. We are more than welcome and I believe that from November will certainly enable more in the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea and certainly in our waters "- said minister Kodheli.
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NATO Summit in Warsaw conducts its proceedings on July 8 to 9, and is the first to be held in this key country in the East of the Alliance.
The summit is attended by Heads of State and Government including all 28 NATO Member Countries and 40 NATO Partner Countries, representatives from the United Nations, the European Union, World Bank and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
The Warsaw Summit will be a landmark summit. It is being held at a time which is decisive for our shared security facing a new, serious and more challenging security environment associated with various crises deriving from the East, North Africa till Middle East.
Landmark Warsaw summit except making strategic decisions for the Alliance will once again confirm the increase of its cohesion by approximating the positions of countries on various issues, and reaffirming the commitment to protect all Allies against any threats.
