2,300 UK maritime personnel take part in exercise with Albania

2,300 Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel joined Albanian forces for an exercise which is part of the Royal Navy’s annual deployment of a crisis-focused amphibious task group, the Joint Expeditionary Force Maritime 16 (JEF(M)16).

Albanian Lion, which was taking place for the fifth time, included 250 Albanian Armed Forces personnel and follows Defence Secretary Michael Fallon’s recent visit to Tirana to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to work side-by-side with Albania.

Fallon commented: “The contribution of maritime forces as well as two Royal Navy warships underlines the UK’s strength at sea and our strong defence partnership with Albania.

“In Tirana last week I reinforced the UK’s commitment to work with Albania to meet security challenges in the Balkans.”