Some news has circulated in the Greek media yesterday claiming that Pashaliman Naval Base could become a military base for Turkey after Prime Minister Rama talked to Turkish President Erdogan about the issue.
"Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is almost ready to hand over to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the Pasha Limani base in Vlora to be turned into a naval base by the Turkish navy...
The talks have begun in previous meetings between the two men, as part of the Tirana government's closer defense cooperation with Ankara.
The Albanian Parliament ratified the Turkey-Albania Defense Cooperation Agreement in the first week of May together with the economic aid protocol from Ankara to Tirana.
This assistance will be goods and services for military purposes, but exclusively from Turkey, creating a close relationship, even at a time when Albania is seeking to advance its accession negotiations with the European Union." Greek media say.
While today, sources for News 24 suggest that after the Kuçova military base, Pashalimani is also being studied by NATO to become a naval base.
It was this request made by the Minister of Defense of Albania Olta Xhaçka that the Alliance considers Pashaliman also due to the geography and the advantages it offers to invest there as well.
In October last year, Minister Xhaçka addressed an official letter to the Commander of the Supreme Command for Europe, US General Todd D. Wolters, outlining the Albanian government's plan to modernize Pashaliman's naval base in order to use it for NATO purposes.
Minister Xhaçka informed the NATO leaders that Albania is ready to implement a joint plan for the development of the naval base for the North Atlantic Alliance.
If such a request was accepted by NATO, it would be the only one from the Alliance in the Balkans to respond to the challenges of immigration or security from threats.
In response to this request, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated from Brussels that the Alliance's experts are evaluating and will consider such a thing.
"Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is almost ready to hand over to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the Pasha Limani base in Vlora to be turned into a naval base by the Turkish navy...
The talks have begun in previous meetings between the two men, as part of the Tirana government's closer defense cooperation with Ankara.
The Albanian Parliament ratified the Turkey-Albania Defense Cooperation Agreement in the first week of May together with the economic aid protocol from Ankara to Tirana.
This assistance will be goods and services for military purposes, but exclusively from Turkey, creating a close relationship, even at a time when Albania is seeking to advance its accession negotiations with the European Union." Greek media say.
While today, sources for News 24 suggest that after the Kuçova military base, Pashalimani is also being studied by NATO to become a naval base.
It was this request made by the Minister of Defense of Albania Olta Xhaçka that the Alliance considers Pashaliman also due to the geography and the advantages it offers to invest there as well.
 |
| Pashaliman Naval Base, May 1989 (archive) |
Minister Xhaçka informed the NATO leaders that Albania is ready to implement a joint plan for the development of the naval base for the North Atlantic Alliance.
If such a request was accepted by NATO, it would be the only one from the Alliance in the Balkans to respond to the challenges of immigration or security from threats.
In response to this request, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated from Brussels that the Alliance's experts are evaluating and will consider such a thing.