NATO Base in Albania (Photo: YTPrintScreen)
A ceremony to open the first NATO base in the Western Balkans was held in Albania, a member of NATO since 2009, on March 4.
The remodelled Soviet-era air base is called Kucova after a nearby town, some 85 kilometers from Tirana.
Officials say the new base will serve as a modern hub for NATO activities in the Western Balkans and a support more broadly to operations in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea regions.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama stressed that the base would be an additional factor for stability in the region, which he said could be compromised by Russia's neoimperialistic threats and ambitions.
NATO financed the renovation of the base with approximately EUR50 million.
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