Kodheli and Basha debate about army

The Minister of Defense, Mimi Kodheli, valued the role of the Albanian armed forces which have turned into a safety bridge between Albania and the NATO.

Kodheli answered to the recent attacks of the opposition, and criticized what she considered an abuse and political pressure against the army.

“The armed forces have been part of political attacks for some time. However, I appeal for stopping this abuse. We will support the armed forces and will not allow these attacks to damage the image of the Armed Forces and Albania, because the armed forces have given their contribute through peace-keeping missions in the region and not only”, Kodheli declared.

The opposition leader, Lulzim Basha, who was Foreign Minsiter five years ago, spoke right after the Minister of Defense and criticized the government for breaking the political balances. He mentioned the possibility of early elections, saying that they should respect the rules of the game, as decided by the sovereign people, when the government doesn’t work properly.

Basha emphasized the reforms that were taken five years ago by the Democratic Party, and stood to the accusations made a few days ago by the opposition, saying that the Armed Forces had been used for drug traffic.

“The Armed Forces created their dignity thanks to the reforms that have been undertaken. I think that we should give up from the syndrome of ‘year zero’, because the Armed Forces built their own dignity. As in every other part of life, even in the Armed Forces transparency helps with the dignity. Transparency and accountability help creating and preserving the dignity of the Armed Forces”, Basha declared.

The United States Ambassador, Alexander Arvizu, who appeared in public after a long absence, supported the recent initiatives of the Ministry of Defense and didn’t spare critics that might be insinuating for the previous government, saying that the reforms in the Armed Forces are delayed.

“The path that Albania followed for the NATO accession was long and represented a great desire from both sides of the Albanian society to joint together, go above the partial differences on the country’s behalf. The United States supported this and contributed for reviewing the defense strategy of Albania, also known as RCM, a document planned with the approval of the former Prime Minister, Sali Berisha. However, the government has not implemented any concrete plan for this document, which is a very important instrument for helping the Albanian Armed Forces to do more with their resources, and to be able to implement the reforms that were started for their modernization. The RCM should be implemented as soon as possible, since there is no reason for delays”, Arvizu declared.

By the end of thie activity, the Ambassador declared on Twitter that the United States of America greet the reforms initiated by the Ministry of Defense, and encouraged a review of the Defense Strategy.

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