Seventy-five officers of the Albanian Armed Forces and the Kosovo Security Force completed rank promotion courses at the Armed Forces Academy (AFA). The Albanian military members attended the Senior Officer Course (SOC) and the Command and General Staff Course (CGSC) for about a year.

The graduation ceremony was attended by the Defense Minister Niko Peleshi, the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Bajram Begaj, the Deputy Chief of General Staff Major General Manushaqe Shehu, the Commander of the AFA Brigadier General Albert Mullai, commanders of forces, etc.

Minister Peleshi shared with the participants the good impressions made by the training and the level of professionalism of the Albanian military during the 'Defender Europe 21' Exercise.

Mr. Peleshi unfolded plans to further increase the level of education of the Albanian military, taking as an example one of the most prestigious military academies in the world, West Point in the USA.

'I want to share with you our ambition to give a very strong dimension to the Armed Forces Academy in cooperation with our allies in NATO and especially with our strategic partner the USA. An ally with whom not only me personally, but also the Prime Minister himself at the highest level NATO meetings, and also at the State Department ones did requests and also invitation for cooperation to restructure and strengthen the Armed Forces Academy. What you are really interested in are the 4 high level courses that we want to take to another level as well. We have expressed our ambitions to deliver within 3 years these courses in English. We want to assemble the courses in a Defense College and we want to give it a regional dimension. We want to serve our brothers in Kosovo, but also in Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, and beyond. We will soon have a visit to West Point; I believe the Prime Minister will be there with us to implement the modeling of the Albanian Armed Forces Academy according to the West Point model. '- declared Minister Peleshi.

The Senior Officer Course was attended by 19 servicemen, while 56 of them graduated from the Command and General Staff Course. Besides the additional knowledge in military sciences, SOC and CGSC serve the military for obtaining the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel.