Albania sends another 113 troops to Afganistan
Uncategorized Monday, July 2nd, 2007Albania sent another 113 peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan, aimed to becoming
a useful country as it works at raising its prospective of becoming a NATO
member. The new troops will work under the Italian command in the province of
Herat, north of Afghanistan. The troops belong to Albania's Third Battalion of
Rapid Response based in Berat, (120 km in the south of capital Tirana).
The fresh troops will be added to the 22 existing
troops, currently serving in Afghanistan since 2002.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha said that this
mission will help the country become a NATO member. Tirana expects to be
invited to join NATO next April at the Bucharest summit. A progress report on
defense reform and democracy should be sent to Brussels in September
Last year Albania gave up its Cold Era
ambition for a strong air force, meanwhile it has decreased its number of tanks
in service. Defence spending has increased to 2% of GDP this year, but seems
that the military lacks the ability to manage those funds. This year’s budged
was the biggest that the country has ever alloted to the Army since the
collapse of communism, but still, just this year, media have reported about soldiers
training without shoes or regular uniforms.
to Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and maybe in Lebanon, has constrained the
capacities of the country. The current number of troops deployed out of Albania
has grown to 325.
Short URL: http://www.albanianeconomy.com/news/?p=277
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on Jul 2 2007. Filed under Uncategorized.
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