The Albanian Contingent

Rajlovac - Until 1991, Albania was a closed communistic country. After that date, as Albania had become more open, it was invited to become a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program.

In September 1996, Albania sent 33 soldiers to augment the Peace Implementation Force (IFOR). These soldiers were sent from Germany where they had been participating in peacekeeping training. They began their deployment by serving in Croatia, but are now based in the Franco-German Camp in Rajlovac. "We are here as SFOR soldiers, and not as Albanians. We want to do an important job stabilizing the Balkan region of which Albania is a part," stated Lt. Col. Vladimir Qirjazi, the contingent’s commanding officer.

"The unit is an independent part of the German unit and the soldiers serve as guards at the German Logistic Base at Energoinvest in Ilidza," said Qirjazi.

During the day, the base is guarded jointly by Albanian and German soldiers. Only a few of the Albanians speak German, and none of the Germans speak Albanian. To solve this problem and to avoid any misunderstandings, the unit has made some cards with letters and numbers that mean different things. When the guards have to report incidents, they just have to say a number or a letter. "This communication system is working fine, and we have not had any problems," Qirjazi said.

The Albanian soldiers have been issued German uniforms and weapons. The reason for this was that the Albanian Army, until recently, had only plain green uniforms. They are now being issued camouflage uniforms. However, when this unit left Albania, the army did not have enough uniforms for everybody. "We are here in cooperation with the Germans, so it was decided that we should wear German uniforms and use their weapons," said Qirjazi, who has a lot of experience with peacekeeping missions. He was the first Albanian to serve abroad in such a role, going from Albania to serve as a military observer in Georgia in 1994.

"Our platoon is the first unit to serve abroad, and everybody was, of course, very proud when they got their NATO medal in January," said Platoon Commander, 1Lt. Vasili. "It has been a pleasure to serve in Bosnia and Hercegovina and to meet a lot of people from different countries. Such an event would have been impossible just a few years ago."

All the soldiers will return to Albania in late March. Many of the enlisted men are doing their one-year compulsory military service and will be leaving the army when they return home.