Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register TIRANA, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Albania said on Sunday it was investigating why two Russians and a Ukrainian tried to enter a military factory and police arrested four Czech nationals also near another military factory. The Defense Ministry announced late Saturday that two of its soldiers were slightly injured during the arrest of a 24-year-old Russian man who had entered the grounds of the Grams military factory and was trying to take pictures. He resisted arrest and used spray against the soldiers. Two others, a 33-year-old Russian woman and a 25-year-old Ukrainian man, were arrested nearby. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Defense Minister Niko Pelesi said on Sunday it was too early to be sure of the motive, but alluded to geopolitics – apparently suggesting a possible link to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has been criticized by the Albanian government. “Considering the broad regional context and the geopolitical context, this cannot be dismissed as an ordinary, political incident, but we cannot rush to conclusions,” he said after visiting the wounded soldiers in hospital. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Saturday that the three men were “suspected of espionage”, without giving further details. Tirana-based media reported that the three suspects were bloggers who frequently visited abandoned military bases and other large factories in various countries. Peleshi said the investigation will show if they were bloggers and what their motives were. When Albania was under communist rule, the Grams factory produced Russian-designed AK 47 rifles. The ministry’s website says the plant now provides manufacturing services for the defense industry. In the past it was also used to dismantle small arms and ammunition. In a similar incident, police said on Sunday four Czech nationals had been detained at the Polican military factory. Police said two Czechs were initially spotted outside the factory and two other men were found inside the tunnels. Tirana media reported that all four said they were tourists. The Polican factory was used during communism to produce ammunition for the Russian-made AK 47 rifle, grenades, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. Some foreign tourists who have visited the place in the past managed to enter the tunnels where the munitions were made and posted their photos online. From their photos the area looked abandoned where old machinery and bullets could be seen on the ground. Albania, a NATO member since 2009, has joined the United States and other Western countries in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has imposed sanctions against Moscow. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Florion Goga and Fatos Bytyci. edited by Philippa Fletcher and David Evans Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
