NATO has spent over EUR 50 million (USD 54.26 million) on the Kuçova Air Base to bolster its presence in the region. Airspace in the Adriatic country of Albania, which borders Greece to the south, Montenegro to the north, and North Macedonia to the East (all three countries being members of NATO), is protected by Italy and Greece.
Two fighter jets flying from NATO’s Aviano Air Base in Italy landed in Kuçova to mark the reopening of the airfield.
“This is a base that [will add]
another element of security for our Western Balkans region which we all know that it is a region endangered from the threat and neo-imperialist ambitions of the Russian Federation,” said Albanian PM Edi Rama.
The air base is located in the small town of Kuçova once known as “Stalin City” when Soviet and Chinese-made MiGs were on standby for orders to scramble in the case of a war with the West that never arrived.
The likely targets then were Austria, Germany, Italy, and Denmark, Rama said.
“Today we live in a different era and fortunately, Albania is on the other side,” Albania’s prime minister added.
Albania, which joined NATO in 2009, is also in talks with NATO to build a naval base at Porto Romano on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
