| Albania |
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Albanian foreign policy has concentrated on maintaining good relations with its Balkan neighbours, gaining access to European-Atlantic security institutions, and securing close ties with the United States.
The crisis of 1997 spurred a period of intense international involvement in Albania, led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Italy hosted a series of international conferences and led a multinational force of about 7,000 troops to help stabilize the country and facilitate OSCE election monitoring. The United States has worked closely with European partners and various multilateral committees to ensure that international efforts are coordinated.
Albania is a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lulzim Basha, represented it at the 11th Summit.[1]
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Relations with neighbouring countries
The Government of Albania is very concerned with developments in neighboring Kosovo, particularly in the post-Dayton agreement period. Although the region is claimed by Serbia to be a Serbian province, Albania recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence on 18 February 2008.
After the fall of the Albanian communist regime in 1991, relations between Greece and Albania became increasingly strained because of widespread allegations of mistreatment by Albanian authorities of the Greek ethnic minority in southern Albania and of the alleged Albanian minorities in northern Greece. A wave of Albanian illegal economic migrants to Greece exacerbated tensions. The crisis in Greek-Albanian relations reached its peak in late August 1994, when an Albanian court sentenced five members (a sixth member was added later) of the ethnic Greek political party "Omonia" to prison terms on charges of undermining the Albanian state. Greece responded by freezing all EU aid to Albania, and sealing its border with Albania. In December 1994, however, Greece began to permit limited EU aid to Albania, while Albania released two of the Omonia defendants and reduced the sentences of the remaining four.
Today, relations between the two countries are relatively good, and, at the Albanian Government's request, about 250 Greek military personnel are stationed in Albania to assist with the training and restructuring the Albanian armed forces. There are still many Albanian workers in Greece that have not received legal papers despite promises by the Greek government. In 1996, the two countries signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship and discussed the issues of the status of Albanian refugees in Greece and education in the mother tongue for the ethnic Greek minority in southern Albania.
Tirana's relations with the Republic of Macedonia remain friendly, despite occasional incidents involving ethnic Albanians there. Tirana has repeatedly encouraged the Albanian minority's continued participation in its Government.
During the 1990s, after the fall of communism, at the onset of democratic reforms, there were vast waves of illegal immigration from the Albanian ports to Italy. This strained relations between the countries somewhat as Italy had to avert a humanitarian crisis. The tensions reached a peak when an Italian coast guard ship allegedly rammed and sank an Albanian ship carrying 120-130, 75 of whom drowned, on 28 March 1997. Eventually the two countries began joint operations aimed at stopping illegal smuggling operations. Italy has also provided financial assistance to Albania to help its ailing economy.
Countries with diplomatic relations with Albania
- Europe: Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holy See, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom
- Asia and Africa: China, Pakistan, Republic of India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Egypt
International disputes
The Albanian Government supports protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians outside of its borders but has downplayed them to further its primary foreign policy goal of regional cooperation; Albanian majority in Kosovo seeks full recognition of the declared independence from Serbia; Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia claim discrimination in education, access to public-sector jobs, and representation in government.[citation needed] A handful of Albanian troops have participated in the US-led invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.[2] Albanian policy is very favorable to that of the United States.
Foreign aid
Through FY 1998, the United States committed approximately $300 million to Albania's economic and political transformation and to address humanitarian needs. This figure comprises about 10% of all bilateral and multilateral assistance offered since 1991. Italy ranks first in bilateral assistance and Germany third. The European Union (EU) has given about $800 million since 1991 and pledged $175 million in 1996-99.
In FY 1999, the United States will provide $30 million through the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act, up from $27 million the previous year. The U.S. also will provide an agricultural commodities grant of $10 million.
The $30 million Albanian-American Enterprise Fund (AAEF), launched in 1994, is actively making debt and equity investments in local businesses. AAEF is designed to harness private sector efforts to assist in the economic transformation. U.S. assistance priorities include promotion of agricultural development and a market economy, advancement of democratic institutions (including police training), and improvements in quality of life. The SEED funding request for Albania for FY 2000 is $25 million.
Foreign relations with other countries
| Country | Continent | Est. diplomatic relations | Albanian diplomatic mission | Country diplomatic mission | Joint memberships | Notes |
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 Argentina |
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 Austria |
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 Belgium |
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 Bulgaria |
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 Canada |
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 Croatia |
25 August 1992 |
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Tirana | Union for the Mediterranean , NATO | In April 2009, both countries became full members of NATO at an event which both Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader attended.[3][4] Also that year, the two countries decided to build a joint Nuclear Power Plant on the Albanian border with Montenegro.[5] This decision was greeted warily by the government of Montenegro, which is worried about the plant's environmental impact. The two have a history of defense pacts, and overall theirs is a good relationship.[6] | |
 Czech Republic |
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 Denmark |
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 Estonia |
1 January 1992 | Athens (Greece). | Warsaw (Poland). | |||
 France |
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 Germany |
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 Greece |
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 Holy See |
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 Hungary |
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 India |
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 Israel |
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 Italy |
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 Japan |
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 Kosovo |
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Tirana | When Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 17 February 2008, Albania became one of the first countries to announce officially about recognition of sovereign Kosovo. Also Albania was the only country which recognized Republic of Kosova in 1990.
There are 2,000,000 Albanians living in Kosovo (93% of Kosovo's population) and Albanian is one of the official languages of Kosovo.[7] |
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 Macedonia |
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 Malaysia |
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 Montenegro |
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 Netherlands |
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There are 100.000+ Ethnic Albanians in the Netherlands | |||
 People's Republic of China |
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 Poland |
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 Romania |
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 Russia |
7 April 1924
(With Soviet Union) |
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Tirana | Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Council of Europe | Since the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Russia has mainly backed up Serbia, which had concerened Albania about their relationship with Russia. However the relations between the two countries begin to improve through the organizations they are a part of. Albania's ambassador to Russia is Teodor Laço, and Russia's ambassador to Albania is Aleksandr Prishchepov.
Main article: Albania–Soviet Union relations
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 Saudi Arabia |
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 Serbia |
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 Slovenia |
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 Spain |
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 Sweden |
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 Switzerland |
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 Turkey |
Tirana | NATO, Union for the Mediterranean | Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes relations between Turkey and Albania as "excellent". | |||
 United Kingdom |
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Tirana | The embassy is on Rruga Skenderbeg with Mr Fraser Wilson MBE as the ambassador. [8]
On 12 February 2008 Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha met the British Foreign Secretary David Milliband[9] |
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 United States |
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See also
References
- ^ The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lulzim Basha concludes his visit in Dakar - Senegal where the 11th Summit of the Countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference held its proceedings. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Albania.
- ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/al.html#Econ
- ^ Koci, Jonilda (08/04/2009). "Albanian, Croatian flags raised at NATO headquarters". Southeast European Times. http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2009/04/08/feature-03. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
- ^ "NATO welcomes Albania and Croatia at the Summit". Abkhazia Institute. http://www.abkhazia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1486:nato-welcomes-albania-and-croatia-at-the-summit&catid=1&Itemid=80. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
- ^ "Albania and Croatia to put Nuclear Plant on Montenegro's border". Macedonian International News Agency (MINA). http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/6349/46/. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
- ^ "Macedonia, Albania, Croatia to deepen defense cooperation". Xinhua News Agency. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/16/content_3788022.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
- ^ - New Kosova Report - Birthate picks up again in Kosovo - Society
- ^ "Albania, Tirana,British Embassy". FCO. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/embassies-and-posts/find-an-embassy-overseas/europe/albania. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
- ^ "Albania". FCO. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/country-profiles/europe/albania?profile=intRelations&pg=4. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.
- This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State (Background Notes).
External links
- United Kingdom
- Estonian
- Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Albania
- Estonian embassy in Athens is also accredited to Albania
- Croatia
- Kosovo
- Turkey
- Albanian embassies in Turkey
- Turkish embassy in Albania
- Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Albania
- Russia
- Analysis
- Is there an Albanian question?, Chaillot Paper No. 107, February 2008, European Union Institute for Security Studies
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