Estonia and Albania

Bilateral relations

Diplomatic relations between Estonia and Albania were established on 1 January 1992. 

Albania’s ambassador to Estonia resides in Warsaw. The current ambassador Florent Çeliku presented his credentials to the president of Estonia on 21 February 2008.
Estonia is represented in Albania by Ambassador Andres Talvik, who resides in Athens and presented his credentials to Albanian President Bamir Topi on 7 December 2009.

In the spring of 2009, Estonian Honorary Consul in Albania Sotiraq Guga assumed his role. The honorary consulate was formally opened by Prime Minister Andrus Ansip in April 2010 during his visit to Albania.

Visits and meetings

Interparliamentary co-operation

In October 2012 a three-member delegation of the EU integration committee of Albania’s parliament visited Estonia. An Estonia-Albania parliamentary group was formed in the XII Riigikogu, led by Igor Gräzin.

Treaties and agreements

The following bilateral agreements have been concluded between Estonia and Albania:

• An agreement on the reciprocal protection of classified information between the Government of Estonia and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania has been concluded (came into force 2 August 2006)
• An agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income between the Government of the Republic of Estonia and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania has also been concluded (came into force 25 November 2010).

Economic relations

Trade relations between the two countries have been rather modest. Estonia-Albania trade in 2012 was modest. Over the past five years, the volume of exports was mainly made up of wood and wood products and machinery and equipment.

Trade between Estonia and Albania  2008-2012 (thousands of EUR)

Defence co-operation

Defence-related contacts between Estonia and Albania have been quite sparse to date. The memorandum of mutual understanding for bilateral defence-related relations was concluded in February of 2005 at the Munich Security Conference.

Development co-operation

Co-operation between Estonia and Albania has a long history and has taken place in many different sectors. Estonia has advised Albania and given the country aid in developing its border guard, court system, and prisons. In recent years the majority of co-operation has taken place in the area of e-government. Experts from the e-Governance Academy and various Estonian enterprises and universities have carried out many projects in Albania. Among other things, Albania has been given advice on working out the organisational structural management model, work schedules, and strategies for Albania’s e-government. The result is the well-functioning National Agency for Information Society (NAIS), which received a significant contribution from Estonian experts. The e-Governance Academy has also helped with preparing many concept papers, for example those on document exchange and electronic archiving, a data security framework, and the architecture and co-operation framework of the e-government. The Ministry of Justice has consulted for Albania on the creation of an electronic land cadastre.

Culture

From 25-29 October 2010 the international short film festival First Step Film Fest took place in Tirana, Albania. The 150-film competition programme included the Estonian short film “Shift” (“Vahetus”). The film’s director Anu Aun was given the festival’s award for best director.

In November 2010 an exhibit introducing Albania’s history and culture as well as the legacy of Mother Theresa entitled “Mother Theresa: Gonxhe Bojaxhi, a Living Symbol of Love and Human Dignity” was on display in the Riigikogu building in Tallinn.
 

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