The Royal Border Guard () was a border protection force of the
Royal Albanian Army
The Royal Albanian Army () was the army of the Albanian Kingdom and King Zog I of the Albanians from 1928 until 1939. Its commander-in-chief was King Zog; its commander was General Xhemal Aranitasi; its chief of staff was General Gustav von M ...
responsible for protecting Albania's territorial borders from smuggling activities and foreign interference.
History
Shortly after the establishment of Albania's borders was officially recognised at the Ambassadors Conference in Paris on 30 July 1926, the need for a border protection force suddenly emerged. The Royal Border Guard was created on 25 February 1929.
Historiku i Kufirit dhe Migracionit
/ref> It was a military-financial organization which was tasked with stopping, suppressing and preventing smuggling and criminal activity along the country's newly formed borders. Its operations continued until 7 April 1939, the day Albania was invaded by Fascist Italian Forces.
Structure
The force consisted of five battalions (commanders listed as of April 7, 1939):
*Border Battalion Korçë (Capt. Rexhep Radomira)
*Border Battalion Delvine (Capt. Haxhi Gilagoli)
*Border Battalion Durrës (Capt. Shaban Tirana)
*Border Battalion Shkodër (Cpt. Hamdi Jusufi)
*Instruction Battalion Korçë ( Col. Preng Pervizi)
The Border Guard had a statutory strength of 91 officers, 222 NCOs and around 1,500 men, in 14 companies of 48 platoons subdivided into 119 squads, and probably had more or less that strength on the eve of the invasion. The Guard was more of a fiscal or customs police than a military arm, and was incorporated into the Italian ''Guardia di Finanza
The Guardia di Finanza (; G. di F. or GdF; or ) is an Italian militarised law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Economy and Finance, instead of the Ministry of Defence (Italy), Ministry of Defence ...
'' after the invasion.
See also
* Border and Migration Police (Albania)
References
{{Law enforcement in Albania
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
Law enforcement in Albania