18 10 2007 Tirana _ The Speaker of the British House of Commons, Michael Martin, has said that his country's parliament will support Albania’s aspiration to join NATO.
Martin, who is the ceremonial head of the British Parliament's lower chamber, expressed his support during a meeting with Albanian Prime Minster Sali Berisha in London on Tuesday.
“The British Parliament will back Albania’s bid to join NATO,” declared Martin.
He also congratulated the Albanian government on the reforms undertaken in the fight against corruption.
Meanwhile, the Albanian Parliament’s Speaker Jozefina Topalli, received assurances from her Canadian counterpart, Noel Kinsella.
“Canada is country that has always supported Albania’s integration into NATO, and we, as parliamentarians, will promote this process,” said Kinsella.
Last week in Iceland, NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly approved a resolution which endorses the possible issuing, at next year’s Bucharest summit, of invitations to Albania, Croatia and Macedonia to join the Alliance.
The resolution calls on these three candidates, known as the Adriatic Charter countries, to push through the necessary reforms, while urging NATO members to initiate discussions on the candidate countries’
accession.
In a speech to the NATO Assembly, Berisha thanked member countries for their support, while promising that Albania would continue to be a factor of stability in the region.
In Albania over 1,000 soldiers from NATO and members of its Partnership for Peace, PfP, initiative have been holding military exercises that are scheduled to last until the end of October.
The aim of the exercises, codenamed “Cooperative Longbow 2007” and “Cooperative Lancer 2007”, is to strengthen collaboration between the NATO and PfP countries in a bid to reinforce stability and peace in the event of a crisis. (Birn)
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