Albanian PM says Nato to open first air base in Albania

Albanian PM says Nato to open first air base in Albania
By bne IntelliNews August 5, 2018

Nato has decided to open an air base in Albania, which will be the first in the Western Balkans, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said.

At the Nato summit in Brussels last month, leaders of states within the Alliance adopted a declaration stressing that the Western Balkans is of strategic importance to Nato, and pledging to work closely with the region "to maintain and promote regional and international peace and security". 

Albania became a Nato member back in 2009. Of its neighbours, Greece is a long-term member of the Alliance, while Montenegro was recently admitted as its newest member and Macedonia is expected to join soon pending the result of this autumn's referendum on a deal with Greece that will see the country's name changed to North Macedonia. Nato also has a strong security presence in Kosovo, with its headquarters at the US army base Camp Bondsteel. 

The Albanian air base will serve to support Nato air operations and will provide logistic support, air policing and training. The project will be implemented through the modernisation of Albania’s idled air base in Kucove, 80 km south of the capital Tirana.

In the first stage of the project alone, Nato will invest €50mn in the modernisation of the Kucove air base in partnership with the Albanian government, Rama said in a Facebook post on August 4. The project is expected to be launched this year.

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