The Minister of Defense, Mimi Kodheli, declared that she did not take
the president’s competences by discharging Rear Admiral Kristaq Gerveni
as military representative of Albania in NATO.
After a meeting at the Parliamentary Commission for Foreign Policy, Kodheli declared that the decision for discharging Gerveni was based on the law, since the decree of the former President has expired in March, and the current President, Bujar Nishani, has been informed about this.
“I have only respected the procedures and the law. It is a normal procedure after the previous decree expires. For the Rear Admiral in question it expired in the beginning of January, but physically it ends by the end of March. I have only issued an administrative order to create the vacancy for the replacement. The President assesses the situation and was notified about the expiration of the decree given by the former President. He was notified for the expiration of the physical time of our representative in NATO. I believe that the procedures will be regular in this case”, the Minister declared.
On March 7th, the Minister of Defense, Mimi Kodheli, issued an order for “handing over the duty and return in the homeland”. The order was given to Rear Admiral Kristaq Gerveni for his position since 2011, as military representative in the NATO mission.
The Minister’s argument was that Gerveni had violated the law by holding the wrong grade on his uniform during a meeting of 170 Chiefs of Defense from the NATO countries.
The Chief of General Staff, Jeronim Baze, stated that when a military officer fails to respect and implement the orders, he commits a criminal offense. The case in question lowers the figure of a military officer and the decent national representation in the NATO structures”.
He reminded Rear Admiral Gerveni of article 2 of Chapter 5 of the Internal Rules of the Military Life, saying that the order is not discussed, but implemented quickly and with precision. The declaration of the Chief of Staff says that “there is another disciplinary practice for the military in question, with the Chief of Staff proposes respective measures by respecting the laws and regulations”. Even for the trial of General Bazo, the administrative order for Gerveni’s replacement doesn’t damage the competences of the President.
Top Channel
