In September 1991, after the first pluralist elections of March 1991, the forming of the first pluralist government and the admission of Albania to the CSCE in June 1991, the Swiss Government started to look for adequate facilities to open its first presence in Tirana, and the first mission was opened in 1992. The new Albanian democratic government that came out of the March 1992 elections, decided to open its mission in Bern. This was completed in October 1992 and the first accredited ambassador was Mr. Gazmend Turdiu.

The first Albanian resident ambassador to Bern recounted his first years on the job, while appreciating Swiss officials for their stability and reliability.  “I do not understand why Albania had not been cooperating with Switzerland, which was a completely neutral country and had no clear bilateral issues.  Switzerland was a country with excellent potential for economic cooperation”.

According to him, the aid of the Swiss people started with food aid when the country was faced with grave emergencies, to then continue with equipment.  “It all started with food aid and then continued with more important spare parts and other equipment such as power transformers, which were critical for the Albanian electric corporation, and it was thanks to this aid that Albania was able to successfully overcome the energy crisis of winter 92-93, which was a truly cold year.   

After this initial phase, Swiss aid focused on development programs and two of the most important sectors they focused on were energy and telecommunication. The projects implemented at the time were related to the rehabilitation of the Drin Cascade, which led to more energy generation, and telecommunications.  We all remember well that in 1992 and 1993 it took a number of tries to connect an international call.  The Swiss Government made possible the construction of the telephony exchange, and it was State Secretary for Economy Franc Blanchard that made the first inauguration call using this line in October 1994. The project had extraordinary impact on the development of Albania”, Mr. Turdiu noted.  

The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs General Director Ms. Mimoza Halimi noted the positive tendency of the relations between the two countries.  “The consistent Swiss policy towards Albania in support of it path to integration, but also the strong financial aid reaching some 300 million Swiss Francs is of important note.  

Since the 1970s, when relations were officially established, developments between the two countries have only been positive in the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.  High level bilateral visits have increased in number and culminated with the visit of the Albanian Prime Minister to the Swiss Confederation in 2017. 

What is also of note in the Swiss approach to our country, is the continuous assistance materialized in strategic documents and well-designed projects.  The Swiss cooperation strategy for the 2018 to 2021 period has a total budget of 105 million Swiss Francs which is 50% more than the Swiss strategy for our country during the 2010 to 2013 period.  This is a clear indicator of the engagement and the quality of relations in which both of our countries invest.  The four main areas of contribution are democratic governance, economic development and employment, health care, urban infrastructure, and energy”, Ms. Halimi said.