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| Headquarters of Foreign Ministry of Albania |
A day earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued strong accusations that mercenaries from Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were being recruited to fight in Donbas, the Ukrainian province where pro-Government forces are in conflict with the separatist pro-Russians.
After the statement, the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted, calling the Russian ambassador in Tirana and asking for the news to be refuted. But more than a fact, Lavrov's statement seems to be an unfounded accusation, for which, at least so far, the Russian Foreign Ministry has not presented any evidence.
Albania has by law prohibited the participation of its citizens in conflicts abroad. The Criminal Code in its chapter VII, as well as articles 265 / a, 265 / b and 265 / c provide for sanctions for participants in hostilities in a foreign country (amendments according to law no. 98, dated 31.7.2014). The decision to adopt this law was taken after the involvement of some persons from Albania in the fighting that took place in Syria. A similar law has been adopted by Kosovo. Currently, the Criminal Code provides for 10 to 15 years in prison for persons who incite recruit, or take part in the war in foreign countries.