VZCZCXYZ0004
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNO #0610/01 2891619
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 161619Z OCT 06
FM USMISSION USNATO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0115
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000610 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/RPM, EUR/SCE, PM 
OSD FOR USDP -- WINTERNITZ AND GRAFF 
NSC FOR SCHWENDLER, AINSLEY 
JOINT STAFF FOR J-5/EUROPE AND NATO POLICY -- FOSTER 
USEUCOM FOR ECJ-5/E 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2016 
TAGS: NATO PREL MOPS MARR AL
SUBJECT: ALBANIA RECEIVES MIXED REVIEWS FROM NATO ALLIES ON 
ITS ANNUAL NATIONAL PROGRAM 
 
REF: SECSTATE 169370 
 
Classified By: Charge Richard Olson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  Albania received qualified praise from 
NATO Allies for its implementation of political and defense 
reforms and admonitions to quicken its reform pace during an 
October 10 meeting with NATO's Senior Political 
Committee/Reinforced.  During the meeting, in which Albania 
presented its Annual National Program (ANP) outlining planned 
reforms for the upcoming year as part of NATO's Membership 
Action Plan (MAP), Allies commended Albania's contributions 
to NATO operations, high public support for NATO membership, 
and progress in defense reforms.  Allies expressed concerns 
about crime and corruption, aligning defense priorities with 
resources, improving the electoral process, and improving 
relations between the government and opposition. The Albanian 
delegation expressed its hope that NATO's November Summit 
would send an encouraging message to NATO aspirants, while 
most allies stressed that membership was a performance-based 
process and urged Albania to increase the pace of its 
reforms.  The U.S. praised Albania's progress and its 
contributions to NATO while also noting time was short to 
make additional progress before the Alliance would consider 
issuing membership invitations in 2008, and expressed concern 
about the quality of some sections of Albania's ANP.  The 
next step in the MAP process for Albania will be a February 
visit by NATO International Staff to Albania to assess 
implementation of the planned reforms.  END SUMMARY. 
 
ALBANIA: NATO MEMBERSHIP A FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITY 
 
¶2.  (C)  Albanian Deputy Minister of Defense Petrit Karabina 
led an interagency delegation that presented Albania's 
2006-2007 Annual National Program (ANP) to NATO's Senior 
Political Committee/Reinforced on October 10.  Karabina 
stressed that NATO membership was one of the main pillars of 
Albania's foreign policy and served as an impetus for 
domestic reforms.  He emphasized Albania's contributions to 
NATO operations, such as Operation Active Endeavor in the 
Mediterranean and ISAF in Afghanistan.  On the domestic 
front, he said human rights standards for minorities continue 
to improve and that the Albanian government was engaged in 
updating the legal and administrative framework to further 
improve conditions for free and fair elections.  Karabina 
said the Albanian government had demonstrated its political 
will and determination to fight organized crime, corruption, 
and trafficking through its record of arrests and 
prosecutions. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Karabina said Albania would focus its reform efforts 
over the next year on strengthening the judicial system, 
fighting corruption and organized crime, combating the 
illicit traffic of drugs and human beings, and the struggle 
against terrorism.  Defense reforms would focus on adjusting 
priorities to meet resources, transforming the armed forces 
through enhanced training and modernization programs, phasing 
out conscription, and increasing the annual defense budget 
with the goal of meeting NATO's informal target of spending 2 
percent of GDP on defense by 2010. 
 
ALLIES ENCOURAGING, BUT STRESS NEED TO DO MORE 
 
¶4.  (C)  In response, almost all Allies expressed general 
support for Albania's NATO membership aspirations.  The 
majority voiced appreciation for Albania's contributions to 
international peacekeeping operations and welcomed progress 
in implementing reforms outlined in the ANP, especially 
noting progress in defense reforms.  The U.S. praised 
Albania's progress and its contributions to NATO, noted time 
was short to make additional progress before the Alliance 
would consider issuing membership invitations in 2008, and 
expressed concern about the quality of Albania's ANP which 
was vague and difficult to understand in parts.  Concerns 
expressed by Allies focused on the need for more progress in 
the fight against crime and corruption (SK, GM, FR, NO, RO, 
NL, US), in aligning defense priorities with spending (PO, 
UK), in improving political dialogue between the opposition 
and government (GM, SP, UK, NO), and in improving the 
electoral process (FR, SP). 
 
¶5.  (C)  Greece and Iceland stressed the need for 
improvements in the treatment of minorities.  Karabina said 
Albania was committed to the highest international standards 
 
for the protection of minority rights and noted that Greek PM 
Karamanlis had praised Albania for its good performance on 
minority issues when he met recently with Albanian PM Berisha. 
 
VIEWS ON RIGA LANGUAGE 
 
¶6.  (C)  Karabina said he hoped the communique from the 
November NATO Summit would define a clear calendar for NATO 
enlargement and hoped to receive an invitation to join the 
Alliance at the 2008 NATO Summit.  Germany, Bulgaria, 
Hungary, and the U.S. said that the message to NATO aspirants 
in the Riga communique should be encouraging, but stressed 
that admittance is a performance-based process.  France hoped 
the communique would send a strong and clear signal that 
pointed to a "precise point of reference in the future."  The 
Netherlands said further reform would be needed for Albania 
to qualify for membership. 
 
DEFENSE REFORMS GET PASSING GRADE 
 
¶7.  (C)  Defense reforms were given an overall passing mark 
by Allies. Poland acknowledged Tirana's slow but steady 
growth in defense spending, while Italy was glad to see 
increases to the defense budget.  When asked whether Tirana 
realistically thought they could reach their goal of spending 
2 percent of GDP on defense by 2010, the Albanian delegation 
responded that the numbers had been approved by the 
government, which was committed to that goal. 
 
¶8.  (C)   Germany, France and The Netherlands all said that 
good progress was being made in defense reforms, though 
Germany noted that the size and structure of the Albanian 
Armed Forces (AAF) must come from Tirana's own strategic 
documents.  The UK saluted Albania's ambition and noted 
"radical changes" were being made with the "wiping out" of 
fixed wing aircraft and the removal of conscription. 
Karabina stated that Albania's MiGs would be decommissioned 
and the government was currently looking to set a price for 
potential bidders.  Romania commented that efforts to 
professionalize the AAF were going well.  Albanian Director 
of the General Staff Colonel Foto Duro noted conscription 
would be reduced step by step and the armed forces would be 
fully professional by 2010.  Several Allies were concerned 
about the excess amount and disposal of surplus weapons and 
ammunition.  The Netherlands worried these weapons could fall 
into terrorists' hands, and suggested Albania speed up their 
destruction.  Duro explained that Albania had inherited large 
quantities of excess equipment and ammunition, which were 
increasing as they reduced the reserve forces.  He noted the 
goal was to destroy approximately 13 to 14 tons per year, 
though he admitted there had been a drop in the scheduled 
amount to be destroyed this year. 
 
ASSESSMENT IN FEBRUARY 
 
¶9.  (C)  In concluding the meeting, NATO Assistant SYG Martin 
Erdmann said that the NATO International Staff would visit 
Albania on February 7th to begin its annual assessment of 
Albania's progress in implementing the reforms outlined in 
its ANP. 
OLSON