Tirana, September 10, 2026
The “Octopus” Institute for Hybrid War Studies and the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on Thursday in Tirana, for joint research, analysis, and activities in the fields of geopolitics and security.
The Director of the “Octopus” Institute, Arben Fetoshi, stated that the agreement aims to strengthen institutional cooperation through research projects, strategic analyses, and activities of mutual interest, particularly regarding security and hybrid threats.
According to Fetoshi, the collaboration will focus on issues related to geopolitical disinformation, influence operations, and strategic narratives, with the goal of exchanging expertise, enhancing research capacities, and developing a platform for regional dialogue.
“In an environment characterized by geopolitical rivalry and revisionist ambitions, pooling expertise and research capacities is crucial for understanding and addressing hybrid threats, as well as for strengthening regional resilience and the Euro-Atlantic orientation,” said Fetoshi.
He thanked Prof. Dr. Arian Starova and Prof. Dr. Albert Rakipi for the support, warm reception, and substantive discussion regarding increasingly complex security challenges.
Fetoshi expressed confidence that the cooperation with AIIS director, Alba Çela, would establish a sustainable framework for joint projects and initiatives, contributing to the strengthening of democratic values, enhancing resilience against hybrid threats, and developing more effective responses to security challenges and the Euro-Atlantic orientation.
The memorandum envisages cooperation on research projects and comparative policy analyses, the drafting of analytical reports, the exchange of publications and research materials, as well as the organization of conferences, roundtables, expert panels, and other activities of mutual interest.