Albania offers ex-Soviet built naval base to NATO

By LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The office of Albania’s prime minister says the country has offered to NATO a naval base in an effort to highlight the tiny country’s value in the alliance “in these difficult times.” Prime Minister Edi Rama said Thursday Pashaliman naval base, 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of the capital Tirana, could be “an added value” to the alliance and they had prepared a project on its renovation. Albania has joined the United States and the European Union in denouncing Russia’s aggression on Ukraine. The base was built in the 1950s when then-Soviet Union brought 12 submarines. Following the breakdown of the Tirana-Moscow ties in 1961 it continued to serve as a naval base with four remaining submarines and other small military ships. Albania became a NATO member in 2009.