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Artur Meçollari reveals the pact with Italy for Pashalimiani
The Albanian government and Defense Minister Pirro Vëngu presented today the agreement with Italy for the production of ships at the Pashalimani shipyard as a "historic step" in the modernization of the naval fleet. But the former commander of the Navy, Artur Meçollari, has called their bluff.
According to Meçollari, the Pashaliman shipyard has been producing military ships since 2008, in collaboration with the Dutch company DAMEN, so today's news that "ships will be produced in Albania for the first time" is a public deception. He emphasizes that the government is deliberately excluding DAMEN to pave the way for cooperation with the Italians, even though 84% of the Albanian fleet is produced by the Dutch.
According to him, the four STAN PATROL 4207 type ships, manufactured by DAMEN, are out of service due to the lack of a maintenance contract. Meçollari himself warns that this move endangers maritime security and turns the Navy into a "victim of political and diplomatic games."
" Tell Vëng that the Pashaliman Shipyard produced military ships from 2008 to 2014. Will Vëng answer the question of who will repair the four STAN PATROL 4207 ships, manufactured by DAMEN? Vëng excluded the Dutch and included the Italians. The ship that Rama brought out in the video yesterday, the P-131 "Iliria", has not had a single light on its "dashboard" for 5 years and only comes out for a photo in Durrës. Even the P-132 "Orik" that had some repairs in Turkey when it was on a mission, we will see its history later. Fiat cannot repair the Benz. Now it also brings in and takes some old ships from Italy, 35-year-old ships that Italy has taken out of service ," he writes.
Instead of modernization, Albania risks receiving “scrap from Italy's warehouses.” Instead of technological development, Pashalimani is being used for political facade. According to Meçollari, party politics should not be played with people's lives.
" In every naval doctrine it is written that "maritime activity is a high-risk activity". Our Maritime Code also has it written. The Navy has argued to the Ministry of Defense why the maintenance contract and the Pashaliman shipyard should be concluded with DAMEN. Because 84% of the capital investment in the Navy's ships is DAMEN production. For this reason, in April 2019, Prime Minister Rama promised the owner of the company in his office (I was present) the return of DAMEN. State policy does not change, because you and Rama want to balance the broken personal international relations ", he adds.
Today there was a joint meeting between the Albanian and Italian governments, where 16 agreements were signed.
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