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17 years since Albania's membership in NATO

2026-04-01 08:23:00, Aktualitet CNA

Today marks 17 years since Albania's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Albania became a full member of NATO on April 1, 2009, following the completion of the ratification of the Accession Protocol by all allied countries and the deposit of the instrument of accession to NATO with the Department of State, which is also the legal custodian of the Washington Treaty.

Albania's NATO membership process began in 1992, with Albania's official admission to the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC), which was the first organization created by the Alliance to build relations with states that emerged from communist regimes in Europe.

One of the important developments in this process is that of May 2003, when Albania, Croatia and North Macedonia, together with the USA, signed the "Adriatic Charter 3 - USA", which according to Albanian authorities was considered an initiative that would prepare the countries' membership in NATO.

Albania received an invitation to join NATO at the Bucharest summit on April 2, 2008, while on April 25 of the same year, Albania officially began talks on NATO membership, which included several political, military, security and legal issues.

Following the completion of the ratification of the accession protocol by all member states and the deposit of the instrument of accession to NATO with the US Department of State, Albania officially joined NATO on April 1, 2009, fulfilling one of its Euro-Atlantic orientation objectives.

Albania participated for the first time as a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at the summit held in Strasbourg/Kehl on April 4, 2009, while on April 7, the official ceremony of raising the flags of Albania and Croatia in NATO took place at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

Relations between Albania and NATO marked a new stage after the Alliance's decision to build a tactical air base in Albania, considered the first NATO air base in the Western Balkans. On March 4, 2024, the NATO Tactical Air Base was inaugurated in Kuçovë, Berat District, the only Alliance base in the region, which is considered by the Albanian authorities to have a new geostrategic importance for Albania.

Another aspect of cooperation is peacekeeping operations and missions. The Albanian Armed Forces have previously been engaged and participate in international operations and various missions abroad, as part of operations led by NATO, but also by the EU and the United Nations (UN).

Albanian soldiers have been engaged at different times in dozens of missions and operations abroad, such as in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Chad, Georgia, the Aegean Sea, Mali, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Latvia. /CNA