NATO tactical air base inaugurated in Albania

Albania inaugurated on Monday an airbase that has been renovated and updated with funding from NATO in the context of strengthening its influence more than two years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This facility will constitute a "NATO Tactical Air Base" and was built to replace an old base, constructed in the 1950s with support from the Soviet Union, near the city of "Stalin," which has since reverted to its previous name, Kucova, after 33 years since the fall of the communist regime.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama attended the inauguration ceremony, emphasizing the importance of this base that "transcends Albania's borders" in the current geopolitical context.

Rama declared it "represents an additional security element for the Western Balkans region, not far from, as we know, the threat and new imperial ambitions of the Russian Federation."

The construction of this base, located eighty kilometers south of Tirana, is considered a new example of Albania's integration into the Western sphere after becoming a member of NATO in 2009.

However, Balkan countries do not share the same stance towards the alliance. Serbia and Bosnia have not joined it, and similarly, Kosovo, despite the strong presence of NATO's KFOR force there.

During the celebration, four NATO fighter jets flew over the base after taking off from the Aviano base in Italy before landing on the runway of the new facility, which is two kilometers long.

Additionally, according to a correspondent for Agence France-Presse, two Albanian Army helicopters of the "Black Hawk" model and a "Bayraktar TB2" drone acquired by Tirana recently flew over the area.

AFP