Declassified CIA documents reveal the major role the Soviet Union played in Albania’s communist era, detailing the military infrastructure Moscow built across the country, particularly in southern Albania.
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| Enver Hoxha in the middle, Koçi Xoxe on the left, a Russian official and a Russian sailor on a submarine near the Pasha Limani base |
They also provide a glimpse into the political developments that followed, including the 1974 removal of Albanian Defense Minister Beqir Balluku, amid growing internal tensions within the communist leadership.
July 1961: Soviet Military Activities in Albania
In a CIA report dated July 1961, Albania is described as a rugged mountainous country that the Soviet Union was transforming into a “Red Gibraltar” in the middle of the Mediterranean.
According to the document, Moscow had attached increasing importance to Albania following Yugoslavia’s expulsion from the Communist Information Bureau, known as the Cominform.
The Soviet Union was supplying the Albanian Army with modern military equipment while developing naval and missile facilities across the country.
Soviet engineers and technicians had reportedly been working in Albania for years, modernizing existing military infrastructure.
The CIA reported that Soviet personnel were involved in seven air bases and five submarine bases, including facilities around Tirana, Berat, Gjirokastër, Delvinë and Vlora.
Soviet Submarines at Sazan Island
One of the most strategically important areas described in the CIA report was Sazan Island, at the entrance to the Bay of Vlora.
According to the document, four naval bases had been established around Vlora. One was located at Cape Linguetta, northwest of the Bay of Vlora, two were inside the bay and another was on Sazan Island.
The CIA believed that Soviet submarines were distributed among these facilities.
After World War II, Albania regained control of Sazan Island, but Soviet planners quickly recognized its strategic importance.
The document states that the Soviets began constructing facilities designed to accommodate submarines. Around 12 submarine berths were reportedly built on the island, with five additional positions planned following the Suez Crisis.
Four underground fuel storage facilities were also reportedly constructed.
At the time of the report, the CIA estimated that approximately 12 Soviet submarines were stationed on Sazan Island.
The island was heavily fortified with artillery, while civilians were prohibited from entering and ships were not allowed to approach it without authorization.
The Soviet Naval Presence in Vlora
The CIA report also described the development of the naval infrastructure around Vlora as part of a broader Soviet military strategy.
Oil produced in Kuçovë was transported toward Vlora through a pipeline network, while the Soviets were reportedly constructing an oil refinery as part of the logistical infrastructure supporting the Sazan naval base.
According to the CIA, the Soviet naval force based in Sazan was primarily concerned with monitoring the U.S. Sixth Fleet and its support vessels.
The report claimed that six Soviet submarines stationed at Sazan had been observed following the movements of the Sixth Fleet and its supply ships.
The submarines were identified as “W-class” vessels, reportedly capable of traveling up to 5,000 miles without refueling.
This range would have allowed them to operate across the Aegean, Mediterranean and toward the North African coast.
The document also claimed that Soviet submarines could be transported to Vlora in disassembled form and assembled there.
More than 400 Albanian workers and Soviet specialists were reportedly involved in submarine assembly operations.
The CIA said that some submarines appeared to be undergoing work under strict secrecy, while reports suggested that large quantities of submarine components were stored inside the tunnels of the naval base.
Soviet Air Bases and MiG Fighter Jets
The CIA report also described a significant Soviet presence in Albania's air force infrastructure.
According to the document, the Soviets had at least six air bases in Albania and approximately 75 MiG-21 fighter aircraft.
A seventh Soviet air base was reportedly under construction at Ishëm, near Tirana.
The report identified military facilities around Rinas, Devoll, Berat, Gjirokastër, Delvinë, Vlora and Ishëm.
Around 4,000 Soviet military personnel and technicians were reportedly stationed in Albania and supplied through regular air and naval deliveries from the Soviet-linked ports of Burgas and Constanța.
MiG aircraft were said to conduct regular patrols, with two aircraft from the squadrons reportedly kept airborne at all times.
The CIA assessment suggested that Moscow wanted to maintain 24-hour air security over Albania.
Soviet patrols reportedly focused on Albania's coastline and on known naval and air targets.
Soviet Missile Installations
The CIA also reported the completion of two missile installations and the beginning of construction on a third site.
The report claimed that the missile launchers had a range of approximately 2,500 kilometers and that launch sites had been established near Tirana.
Their existence was described as a closely guarded secret.
The document also noted an increase in the number of Soviet MiG-19 aircraft deployed in Albania.
Albania's Naval Forces
The Albanian Navy was reportedly strengthened with two Soviet warships, whose Soviet crews had not yet been fully replaced at the time of the report.
Moscow had allegedly promised to provide Albania with three additional warships.
Soviet fishing vessels equipped with radar and sophisticated electronic equipment were also reportedly conducting hydrographic surveys in parts of the Mediterranean.
According to the CIA, these vessels were simultaneously monitoring the Mediterranean and paying particular attention to the movements of the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
The report suggested that Soviet fishing vessels were engaged in surveillance operations beyond their officially declared mapping activities.
The Soviet Union was also supplying the Albanian military with heavy weapons and advanced electronic military equipment.
Why Moscow Considered Albania Strategically Important
For American intelligence, the Soviet military investment in Albania was about far more than defending Albanian territory.
The CIA believed that the Soviet Union was attempting to use Albania as a strategic platform from which it could monitor and potentially influence military activity in the Mediterranean, North Africa, the North Atlantic and Western Europe.
Sazan Island and the Bay of Vlora were particularly important because of their geographic position at the entrance to the Adriatic and Mediterranean maritime routes.
For Washington, the concentration of Soviet naval and air infrastructure in Albania represented another element of the broader military confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War.
November 1975: Political Purges Under Enver Hoxha
A later CIA report from November 1975 focused less on Soviet military infrastructure and more on Albania's internal political developments.
The document described continued attacks and surveillance against intellectuals and bureaucrats under communist leader Enver Hoxha.
Mahmut Bakalli, then head of the League of Communists of Kosovo in neighboring Yugoslavia, was cited as saying that there had been “major political shifts” within the Albanian administration.
According to the assessment cited in the CIA document, Hoxha's campaign against intellectuals may have been connected to his fears over alleged pro-Soviet tendencies among certain officials in Tirana.
The report said that political removals were continuing within the government and economic sectors.
It also connected the developments to the dismissal of Defense Minister Beqir Balluku in the summer of 1974, one of the most significant political purges of Hoxha's later rule.
Balluku's removal came amid growing signs of internal conflict within the Albanian communist leadership, particularly between hardliners and officials seen as favoring a more moderate approach.
The CIA report also noted that two of the officials removed during the subsequent purges were the minister and deputy minister of trade.
According to Bakalli's assessment, Albania's need for foreign capital could eventually force Tirana to look toward the West. At that stage, however, there were reportedly no clear indications that Hoxha and his regime intended to pursue such a course.
From Moscow's Ally to Europe's Most Isolated Communist State
The CIA documents reveal a remarkable transformation in Albania's Cold War position.
At the beginning of the 1960s, Albania was being described by American intelligence as a strategically important Soviet military outpost, equipped with submarine bases, airfields, missile installations and thousands of Soviet personnel.
Yet Albania's relationship with Moscow soon collapsed.
The ideological and political conflict between Enver Hoxha and the Soviet leadership ultimately resulted in Albania's break with the Soviet Union and its increasingly radical policy of isolation.
The contrast is striking: the country that CIA analysts once described as a “Red Gibraltar” would eventually become one of the most isolated states in communist Europe.
The declassified reports provide a rare insight into how important Albania's coastline, particularly Sazan Island and the Bay of Vlora, was to Cold War military planning.
At the same time, the documents should be read in their historical context: CIA reports reflected the intelligence available to American analysts at the time and contained assessments that were not necessarily independently verified.
Nevertheless, they offer a fascinating window into a period when Albania's strategic importance extended far beyond its size, placing its coastline and military infrastructure at the center of the Cold War confrontation in the Mediterranean.
Sazan was not simply a small Albanian island. During the Cold War, it was a strategic military position watched closely by both Moscow and Washington.