First NATO air base in Western Balkans opened in Albania
The first NATO air base in the Western Balkans opened in Albania on March 4th, RIA Novosti reports
In its statement, the alliance noted that Albania had officially opened an air base in Kucova, ‘turning it into a modern centre for future NATO air operations’.
It is also reported that the opening of the airbase has become the largest project of the alliance in this country. It is located 80km south of the Albanian capital. The modernisation of the base was funded by NATO in the amount of about 50m Euros.
Earlier, in August 2018, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that NATO had decided to build the first airbase in the Western Balkans in central Albania. An old military airfield was chosen for construction in the city of Kucova (formerly known as the city of Stalin – from 1950 to 1990) in the Berat District in the central part of the country.
