FLASH
Shkruar nga Ferdinand Dervishi
The history of the pleading and successive requests of the leaders of the Albanian state, addressed to NATO, to install military bases in the territory of the Republic of Albania, has an identical "déjà vu", although set in a different time.
Starting from 2013, the Minister of Defense and, in one case, the Prime Minister himself, have offered NATO the airfield of Kuçova, the naval base of Pasha-Liman and that of Porto-Palermo.
In 1957, Enver Hoxha did exactly the same thing, with great enthusiasm, this time with the enemies of NATO, with the Soviets.
The offer was made, on October 26, during his visit to Albania, to the Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union, Marshal Georgi Kostantinovic Zhukov.
During a meeting in a close circle, Enver Hoxha asked Zhukov to bring the proposal for the Vlora base to the attention of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Zhukov replies to Enver Hoxha by saying that the Central Committee of PKBS attaches great importance to the strategic position of Albania and that, without a doubt, the Albanian proposal would be considered as it should be.
It is known that the Vlora military base functioned as part of the political-military Warsaw Pact from 1958 to 1961, making the Albanian communists feel safer and more protected in their path to power.
The content of the information that Zhukov sent to Moscow.
No. 19 TELEGRAM OF GK ZHUKOV TO THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION FOR NEGOTIATIONS WITH E. HOXHA
October 26, 1957
Strictly secret
Only to members of the Presidium
Today, on October 25, at the personal request of Comrade Enver Hoxha, I had a confidential conversation with him in the building of the Central Committee of the Party. Present at the conversation, from the Albanian side, were comrades Mehmet Shehu, Beqir Balluku and Hysni Kapo. From our side, it was the ambassador of the USSR in Albania, Comrade Ivanov.
At the beginning of the conversation, friend Enver Hoxha expressed his opinion about my stay in Albania. "Our people, our party and our government consider your arrival as a very important event. We are convinced that your visit has greatly strengthened the authority of our party and will positively affect the further work of the party and the government in building socialism and strengthening the defense of the country", he said...
..."We understand well, says Comrade Enver Hoxha, that our whole future, our life is closely connected with the Soviet Union. We would like, today, here in a narrow circle, on behalf of our Central Committee and the Government, to make our proposals for a military-naval base in Vlora.
We appreciate that the Mediterranean Sea is of great importance from a military-strategic point of view for our socialist camp, since the US 6th Fleet and other important forces of NATO countries operate there, which are strictly directed against the Soviet Union and our socialist camp. Albania, which is part of the socialist camp, lies on the Adriatic coast and therefore has an important status.
Based on this, the Central Committee of the Labor Party requests the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the Soviet Government to transform the naval base in Vlora into a powerful naval base for operations against NATO naval forces at sea Mediterranean.
We believe that the first line of defense of Odessa and Sevastopol should pass here, along the Adriatic coast.
A positive decision for the transformation of Vlora into a powerful military-naval base is the dream of all our Albanian people and will be awaited with enthusiasm.
For all practical matters related to this proposal, we will agree in advance. For this proposal of ours, we ask you, Comrade Zhukov, to bring it to the attention of the PKBS Central Committee.
A favorable decision on this matter will also positively affect our relations with Yugoslavia, which will have to take Albania more seriously".
After listening to Comrade Enver Hoxha, I thanked him for the detailed information and agreed with his assessment of Albania's strategic importance.
I said that the Central Committee of the PKBS attaches great importance to the strategic position of Albania and without a doubt that your proposal will be properly considered.
In conclusion, I asked Comrade Enver Hoxha to talk personally with the chairmanship of the Central Committee of the PKBS about this issue when he is in Moscow for the October Festival.
G. ZHUKOV / Pamphlet
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