Albania is a staunch supporter of the EU’s military readiness and resilience plans in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine. It has 100% alignment with the CFSP and contributes to a number of European operations and programmes. However, despite full alignment and compliance with the EU’s plans to strengthen its security and defence posture, Albania’s position has been one of critical awareness regarding three aspects: firstly, the necessity of including Western Balkans partners in European operations, mechanisms and financial programmes to face the challenge of readiness and resilience in military and security terms; secondly, the need to balance defence spending with spending on the economy and education, innovation and human capital; and thirdly, the need for Europe to become more assertive and unified rather than fragmented vis-à-vis others, including the U.S. This three-pronged official approach is also shaped by a medium threat public perception, which corresponds to ‘yellow’, under the traffic light analogy. In the Albania case, this means a higher sense of uncertainty because of the Russian threat, but seen not only through the prism of national security, but as a wider threat to the Alliance and Europe as a whole.