Within the framework of the project “Assisting the National Authorities of the Republic of Albania to Decrease the Risk of Weapon Proliferation and Misuse of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)”, the Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Vincenzo Del Monaco, and the Albanian Deputy Minister of Interior, Mr. Besfort Lamallari, signed a Memorandum of Understanding this Tuesday. 

The signature ceremony took place at the Albanian Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in the presence of the OSCE Chairperson in Office, Her Excellency Ann Linde, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, and Albania’s Minster for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Her Excellency Olta Xhaçka, marking the visit of the OSCE Chairperson to Albania.

On the occasion of the signing ceremony, the OSCE Chairperson in Office, Ann Linde, stated: 

“I would like to express my appreciation to the Government of Albania for the excellent co-operation with the OSCE Presence here. I encourage Albania as host country to continue to make full use of their assistance and expertise to advance your country’s strategic objectives. Through the Presence, the OSCE will continue to provide strong support to the reform process in the country. I renew the OSCE offer to expert assistance in these and other relevant areas. I was pleased to be present for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between OSCE and Albania a moment ago. The Memorandum aims to strengthen our joint efforts against proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons. This is a key issue for the security and the development in the region and beyond. This is also priority for the Swedish Government. In October last year, the Swedish Minister of Home Affairs and I had a fruitful discussion here in Tirana about how we can further strengthen our co-operation against international organized crimes, including proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons”.

This project is financed by OSCE participating States France and Germany, as well as by the European Union, and it is implemented in all six Western Balkan countries with support from OSCE Missions in each of these countries, under the co-ordination of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre/Forum for Security Co-operation in Vienna.