In a letter sent to Parliament, President Bujar Nishani expresses his concerns regarding the draft defense budget for 2017.
According to President Nishani, the draft budget is 2.8 times lower than the 2% of GDP standard set by NATO.
The draft budget is the lowest since Albania became candidate member of NATO in 1999, while at the same time the Ministry of Defense is planning to increase its number of personnel, even beyond the personnel increase projected in the Long-Term Development Plan of the Armed Forces 2016–25.
