TIRANA, December 30 /ATA/ Prime Minister Edi Rama expressed today the ambition for Albania to be a producing country of military capabilities not only for the domestic needs, but also to export them.
At the traditional end-of-year conference with journalists, Rama focused on the measures that have been taken to develop the military industry in the country and the expectations from this sector.
The prime minister emphasized that this is a historic year for our army because there have been laid the foundations of the “Made in Albania” defense industry.
“The state-owned company has signed 6 agreements and finally we will produce uniforms in our country; we will make our country a reference point for the production of uniforms through this system. The Swedish army sews part of its uniforms in Albania in a private contractual agreement. We will produce armored and emergency vehicles,” Rama added.
The prime minister emphasized that right now, as we speak, in Albania there are being produced a series of ambulances and police patrol vehicles.
“We will produce combat drones and anti-drone systems. The first orders have been made and in the first half of 2026 you will see the first products. In the meantime, we continue to work to implement other contracts for the maritime and aerospace industries,” Rama added.
The increase in the defense budget, according to him, is historic, since we are part of the NATO.
“Today, it is crystal clear that all countries need to have their own industrial base and Albania has started to do this. Meanwhile, we have also seen with great positivity a growing trend in the approach of young people to the Armed Forces, where the objective is for the active personnel to increase by 30% by the end of the current governance mandate,” Rama said, adding that 721 new recruits have joined the Armed Forces this year alone.
The prime minister emphasized that we have the best-paid army in our region, including Serbia, while ensuring that, “We will continue to increase the support with salaries of our military personnel.”
The ambition, according to prime minister Rama, is for our army to reach the average of the NATO countries.
Rama emphasized that the new year finds us with the Javelin missile system thanks to cooperation with the US.
“We have three patrol ships that we have as a gift from Italy. And we have air surveillance radars from France”, Rama added. /j.p/p.s./
