By Xinhua
Tirana : Albania has become the first country in the world free of chemical weapons, said Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
In a meeting Saturday with US Senator Richard Lugar and former senator Sam Nunn, who launched the Lugar-Nunn Cooperative Threat Reduction programme two decades ago to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, Berisha thanked them for helping Albania become the world’s first country to achieve that goal.
In July, Albania finished destroying about 16 tonnes of chemical weapons with a $50 million aid from the Lugar-Nunn programme.
The two senators in turn thanked Albania for its cooperation on the programme and its contribution to global security.
They awarded the prime minister a medal, reportedly made of metal from US and Russian nuclear missiles scrapped under their programme.
The threat reduction advocates are in Tirana to attend a conference titled ” Successful termination of Nunn-Lugar Project. Albania: first country with no chemical weapons”.