SETimes.comUS ambassador says Albania will join NATO in weeks
13/03/2009
TIRANA, Albania -- US Ambassador to Tirana John Withers says Albania will soon join NATO as a full member and will defend itself and its partners. Albania is expected to join the Alliance at its summit in Strasbourg-Kehl in early April.
In other news Thursday (March 12th), OSCE Ambassador Robert Bosch urged all Albanian citizens to apply for the new identity cards. Bosch made the appeal during a visit to a community centre in Tirana with Ombudsman Emir Dobjani.
Also Thursday, parliament adopted a presidential decree appointing Ardian Turku as the new minister for tourism, culture, youth and sports. Lawmakers also approved the dismissal of former minister Ylli Pango, who was sacked after TV footage last week showed him soliciting two young women in exchange for jobs.
In other news, General Prosecutor Ina Rama announced on Thursday that investigations into last year's Gerdec ammunition explosions are complete and that his office would send the case to court soon. The country marks the first anniversary of the deadly blasts on Sunday. (Balkan Web, Telegrafi, News 24, Alsat, Shekulli, BBC, Top Channel, Klan - 12/03/09)