NATO boosts Albania security, armed forces

Albania joined the North Atlantic Co-operation Council in 1992, which was the beginning of NATO-Albania relations. This helped reform and improve its armed forces, security provisions, and in turn its economy. After joining the Partnership for Peace in 1994, this was further expanded. On July 9th, 2008, NATO allies signed protocols on Albania's accession and on April 1st, 2009, Albania became a full member of the alliance. Due to the reform efforts, the country's armed forces became more professional and over 5,000 Albanian soldiers have been involved in five countries as part of NATO, UN, and EU international missions. Albania's contribution to international operations has helped transform a country that consumes energy to one that generates security. 

Albania has also made progress in destroying stockpiled munitions that were leftover and causing a security risk.  Due to Albania's communist history, there was a massive build-up of munitions and weapons from Albania, China, and the Soviet Union. More than 100,000 tonnes of munitions were places in hundreds of depots across Albania. Over time these unused weapons have degraded and becoming hazardous to those living nearby. On March 15th, 2008, an explosion at an ammunitions dismantling plant in Gerdec killed 26 people. Between September 2009 to April 30th, 2012 about 60,982 tonnes of ammunition was demilitarized leaving about 31,000 tonnes left with an estimation of the process ending sometime this year.

This increased safety and NATO integration has helped boost tourist flow and foreign investments. In August 2012, the Prime Minister announced that there was a new record in the tourists numbers of about 3 million as opposed to 2.7 million in the prior year. According to the Tourism, Cultural Affairs, and Youth and Sports Minister Aldo Bumci, this boost in tourism has created about 51,000 new jobs and has contributed 2.1 billion euros to the economy, which is about 21 percent of the GDP. In September, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO Secretary-General thanked Bujar Nishani, the Albanian President, for the country's contribution to the alliance. He also stated, "As a young member of our alliance, Albania can be an example for the whole region." Unlike in most issues, NATO integration has been fully supported by all of the country's political parties.  

 http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2012/11/21/feature-03