The Western Balkans in the jaws of NATO – peaceful intentions or a message of war to Russia?

A new NATO base has been opened in Albania. Against the backdrop of the repeated provocations in Kosovo, this is not news that reassures the neighbors. And of course it is primarily the USA that wants to use this base.

Parallel to the large NATO exercise on the Russian and Ukrainian border, the heads of the alliance boasted about a new clash of arms – for some it was a success, for many not. This is the recently opened Kuçova air base in Albania, which was made available to NATO and in which the alliance has invested 50 million euros. The curiosity lies in the fact that this base, with its total infrastructure of 350 hectares, will apply extraterritorial jurisdiction and will be under the direct administration and function of NATO and not the local Albanian army. It was officially announced that Kuçova, which until recently was the graveyard of old aircraft from the times of communist dictator Enver Hoxha, “will serve as infrastructure for NATO activities in the Western Balkans and for supporting operations in the wider area of ​​the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region”!

US wants to supply Kosovo: Real weapons for a fake state

It is hardly to be expected that the Western Balkans will benefit from this fact, given the experience some countries have had with the NATO presence. It is more likely that this expansion of the Western military alliance will remind us of the illegal bombing of the former Yugoslavia. Given that NATO once prepared the ground for the proclamation of another Albanian state in the Balkans, i.e. on the territory of the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija, by bombing Serbia, Belgrade views this move by the alliance with suspicion. Many see this as a clear message to Serbia that NATO will be ready to defend its self-proclaimed Kosovo project at close quarters should Belgrade launch a campaign to protect the Serbian population, which is subjected to persecution and terror by the Pristina regime led by Albin Kurti. The Serbian reference to the valid UN Resolution 1244, according to which Kosovo is an integral part of the state of Serbia, has so far fallen on deaf ears among the supporters of the project, the majority of UN members of the unrecognized and self-proclaimed Kosovo.

Albania became a NATO member 15 years ago and since then has wanted to present itself to Brussels and Washington as a reliable partner for any NATO plans in the region. Kuçova Air Base, 80 kilometers south of Tirana, was built in 1952 for the use of the Warsaw Pact member states, of which Albania was a member at the time, and is located in the Albanian city of the same name, known as Stalin City during communism.

Kuçova Base is intended to be used, if necessary, to accommodate Greek and Italian fighter aircraft, whose air forces are responsible for protecting Albanian airspace within the framework of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense System. At the same time, the Italian and Greek air forces cover Montenegro and North Macedonia, and both countries, as well as Albania, are obliged to have a base where allied fighters can land. Kuçova Base, after adaptation, construction of infrastructure and control tower, has two runways with a length of 2,853 and 2,500 meters.

“During the major NATO exercises in 2021 and 2023, the possibility of a rapid relocation of the US Army from the continental part of the USA to the Mediterranean was examined. During these activities, special attention was paid to the situation of Albania, where the US landed in the port of Durrës and used the training ground in Biza for combat exercises. In the future, Kuçova will be the main base for receiving US forces and their activities in the Balkans for such exercises,” says the text published on the Balkan Security Network website.

With the landing of two Italian Eurofighter fighter-bombers, the first NATO air base in the Western Balkans was officially opened in the Albanian town of Kuçova, and the dignitaries in attendance stressed that everything was happening “at a time of increased Russian threats”. At the base’s opening, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama took the opportunity to stress that, although his country does not have combat aircraft, it is aware of the dangers posed by the allegedly growing threat from Russia, despite the fact that Russian borders are at least 1,500 kilometers away from his country. At the same time, Rama reminded his transatlantic allies that now is the time to think about the realization of the promised project, the construction of the large naval base Porto Romano on the Adriatic coast.

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