8 thousand American soldiers to "occupy" Albania in NATO's Defender 21 training

USMC in Albania, May 2019

 The multinational military training "Defender 21" will take place in Albania. It is the largest multinational training, which according to what was declared last year, would focus on the Black Sea and the Balkans.

But now has been decided. Eight thousand American soldiers will invade Albania in the late May-June period of this year, while the Albanian army, and Albania itself, is expected to show its "strength" in organizing such major events, according to the Defence Ministry.

Yesterday, in the annual analysis of the Albanian army for 2020, the whole debate focused on this important event of our country within NATO.

The Ministry of Defense has not yet announced how much will be the budget that will be made available for this multinational exercise and where the money will come from.

The Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Bajram Begaj, requested the maximum commitment of the commands of the Land, Naval and Air Forces, the Support Command, the Academy and the autonomous units to prepare the plan of measures for this exercise, which will take place at the beginning of election campaign in the country, despite the conditions of the Pandemic.

About 4 thousand American soldiers will be stationed in our country, while the rest will be relocated to neighboring countries.