Albania’s old communist-era air base will become a tactical NATO operational station when it reopens in 2023, Euronews reports. Work on upgrading Kuchev Air Base to a modern operations center began in January, and the goal is to improve its ability to accommodate several modern fighters.
NATO and Albania have pledged 50m euros to build a center 85km south of the capital, Tirana.
Currently, military spending is rising in most European countries, especially in Germany and the Balkans. Tensions are also rising against Albania. Croatia, a NATO member, and Serbia, which opposes the alliance, now appear to be taking part in a mini-arms race.
Serbia has purchased modernized MiG-29 aircraft, tanks and missile systems from Russia, and Croatia has purchased 12 Rafale fighters from France.
The small town of Kuchova was named after Stalin during the communist regime in Albania, and the base was built in the 1950s with the help of prisoners led by leader Enver Hoxha. Although he was a communist, after World War II he opposed the USSR, China and neighboring Yugoslavia, turning Albania into a “hermit state”.