Senior Course 115 spent its second day of winter field study visiting Tirana, the capital city of new NATO member nation Albania. The Course received a warm and enthusiastic welcome from the Vice Minister of Defense, Miss Zana Xhuka, who expressed her satisfaction to host the officers and officials from the NATO and partner countries represented in Senior Course 115. The Deputy Chief of Defense, Rear Admiral Kristaq Gerveni also spoke to the course members and underlined the importance of cooperation to face the new challenges of the time. He also said he was proud of his nation’s contributions to NATO operations.
The course members also had the opportunity to discuss important security topics with the Commander of Albanian Defense College, Col Jeronim Bazo, and the Director of Defense Policy and Euro Atlantic Integration, Mr. Idriz Konjari.
A reception to honor the visit of the NATO Defense College to Tirana was held in the amazing King Palace built in 1939 and inaugurated just a few days before the beginning of the Second World War. While the course members were enjoying the reception, the NDC Commandant, Lt. Gen Wolf-Dieter Loeser, had an interesting and cordial talk with the Albanian Minister of Defense, Mr. Arben Imami. During the office call the Albanian Minister of Defense discussed the ongoing process of restructuring the Albanian Armed Forces. The restructuring includes the Albanian Defense College and the Defense Minister and Lt Gen Loeser discussed possible areas of NDC support.
The following morning, Senior Course 115 visited the Albanian Armed Forces Training and Doctrine Command where CMs were briefed by Rear Admiral Gerveni and Col Dilaver Hoxha, Chief of General Staff J5 branch. They provided a wide overview of the Albanian Armed Forces. In particular, they described the transformation of the AAF in order to achieve the standard to join the Alliance, the current involvement of AAF in Nato Operations, and importantly, the future long term trend of transformation leading to full military integration within 2020 year. Particularly the focus was on the Human Resource Management aimed to increase both the number and the professionalism of the Albanian military.
After the briefings about the Albanian Armed Forces, Mrs Elida Petoshati of the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a detailed briefing concerning the Albanian strategic concept and its expectations in integration into NATO and the EU. Following a Q&A session the course members were hosted to a farewell luncheon before departing Tirana for Athens, Greece, the next stop on the Winter Field Study.
More about SC115 Winter Field Study:
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN