Foreign relations of Albania
Since the collapse of Communism in 1990, Albania has extended its responsibilities and position in European and international affairs, supporting and establishing friendly relations with other nations around the world.
It also maintains strong diplomatic relations with the EU (primarily Croatia, France, Germany, Italy) Balkan countries (primarily Kosovo, Greece and North Macedonia), Arab world, Canada, China, Turkey, Israel, India, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, UK and the United States.
[2] The support for the United States has remained high at 95% in Muslim majority (56% of the population) Albania in contrast to the rest of the Islamic world.
[2] During the post-cold war, geo-political complexities and conflicts in the Balkans, made Albania seek a protector power with Turkey, which is a NATO member.
[3] During the 1990s, state relations between Albania and Turkey were marked by high level visits, military agreements and the deployment of Turkish soldiers.
[4][6][5] During civil war in 1997, Turkey alongside other countries, participated in Operation Alba by providing a brigade of 800 Turkish troops to restore order and its involvement served mainly as a stabilising force.
[8][9] Having a powerful ally in Turkey has suited Albania at times regarding difficult interstate relations with Greece.
[11] The military alliance during the 1990s between Turkey and Albania was also aimed against Serbia in case a war over Kosovo had a wider regional spread.
[16] The resumption of closer Albanian-Turkish relations ensured during the Kosovo crisis that made both countries act along the same policy lines toward Slobodan Milošević and the issue of Greater Serbia.
[20][21] Radar systems for the surveillance of Albanian airspace in addition to telecommunication equipment have been supplied by Turkey to Albania.
[28][4][30] In Gallup polls conducted in recent times Turkey is viewed as a friendly country by 73% of people in Albania.
[citation needed] There are still other impending issues in the relations between the two countries, regarding many Albanian workers in Greece who have not received legal papers despite promises by the Greek government.
In 1996, the two countries signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship and discussed the issues of the status of Albanian refugees in Greece and education in the mother tongue for the ethnic Greek minority in southern Albania.
[19] Today, as result of very frequent high-level contacts between the governments and the parliaments, relations between the two countries are regarded as excellent.
Albania's ties with Greece are also based on cultural and historic relations of the two peoples, including migration and national minorities.
In 1907 a special protocol and memorandum of understanding was signed by Neoklis Kazazis and Ismail Qemali, the first prime minister of Albania.
In addition, Thanos Paleologos-Anagnostopoulos in his book "Greece and Albania in the early 20th century (1995)" stated that Ismail Qemali, a philhellene, worked with numerous Greek politicians and lobbyists, including Arvanite leaders, on a possible Greek-Albanian federation, one that "maintains national and religious independence of the two peoples.
The $30 million Albanian-American Enterprise Fund (AAEF), launched in 1994, is actively making debt and equity investments in local businesses.
List of countries which Albania maintains diplomatic relations with: In 2008 and 2009, the Albanian Parliament ordered the Foreign Ministry to establish diplomatic relations with countries which Albania did not maintain diplomatic relations with, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, East Timor, Eswatini, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Gambia, Grenada, Kiribati, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Rwanda, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda and Vanuatu.
Albania is member in these international organizations:[198] AC, APF, BIE, BSEC, CEB, CoBx, CoE, CERN (Non-Member State), CEI, CCC, CEFTA, ECE, EAPC, EBRD, EITI, ECAA, ECAC, EC, ENTSO-E, Eurocontrol, FAO, FIUs, IAEA, IAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICC, ICRC, ICRM, ICCROM, IDA, IDB, IHO, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, IOM, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, OAS, OB, OIC, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, OTIF, PCA, SEECP, SECI, SETC, UN, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNDSS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNW, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, UfM, VC, WB, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO and WTO.
Albania was one of the first countries to recognize the National Transitional Council on 18 July 2011 as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
The multi-national Communist armed forces' sole joint action was the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968.
In April 2009 Albania became a full member of the NATO, which remains popular in the country especially due to its intervention in the Kosovo war on behalf of ethnic Albanians.
[271] Within the Balkans, Albania is considered to be the most pro-European and pro-Western country in the region and unlike its neighbours, except Kosovo, it has to negligible support for Russia.
