Kosovo, Albania and Croatia pledge to increase military readiness

The statement of the defense ministers, which has alarmed Serbia, contains the commitment of Kosovo, Albania and Croatia to increase the readiness of military forces and foresees specific assistance for Kosovo. In it, the ministers also expressed their commitment to identify spaces for defense industrial cooperation, promoting access to resources and supply chains to create a competitive and sustainable defense industry.

The declaration signed earlier this week by the Kosovo Defense Minister, his Albanian and Croatian counterparts, has been published. The document, which has alarmed Serbia, contains a commitment by all three countries to increase the readiness of their military forces and provides specific assistance to Kosovo.

The declaration, apart from the preamble, is divided into four parts.

Through the first, the ministers have expressed their commitment to engage in the promotion of defense capabilities and cooperation for the relevant industry by: “Explore the development and acquisition of defense capabilities through multinational cooperation solutions to increase the readiness of our military forces; Identify spaces for defense industrial cooperation, promoting access to resources and supply chains to create a competitive and sustainable defense industry; Increase efforts to invest in new technologies and innovations to accelerate and ensure a unified approach to the transformation of security and defense”.

The second part refers to increasing interoperability through education, training and exercises. This is envisaged to be done by: “Sharing expertise and best practices in the recruitment, development and retention of qualified personnel, including the exchange of concepts of reserve forces, to increase preventive and defensive capabilities; Increasing individual and collective education and training opportunities through relevant military academies and colleges, in order to have a better strategic understanding of common threats and challenges; Strengthening bilateral and/or trilateral exercises to improve interoperability, in line with NATO and EU Training and Exercise Policies, to ensure that forces are adequately prepared.

The third part concerns countering hybrid threats and increasing resilience. This is intended to be achieved by: “Strengthening joint steps to counter hybrid threats, including cyber threats, disinformation campaigns, and malign foreign influence that could compromise or affect national and regional security; Sharing information and intelligence services for strategic and operational situational awareness and coordination between defense institutions to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to the challenges facing our respective countries; Exploring response options that address a wide range of potential threats to our critical infrastructure and communication networks and that support cohesion and mutual assistance.”

The fourth part concerns providing full support for Euro-Atlantic integration. Croatia and Albania are part of NATO, while Kosovo has expressed the ambition to become part of it.

Through the declaration, the states have pledged to align policies and positions with multilateral Euro-Atlantic institutions and structures for security and defense, to advance our national and common regional interests and objectives.

Specific assistance for Kosovo was also mentioned, by: "Demonstrating commitment to closer cooperation and coordination for Kosovo's full integration into regional security and defense initiatives; Supporting Kosovo's Euro-Atlantic perspective by providing support for its status in NATO's Partnership for Peace."

And the preamble indicates that the declaration was signed recognizing the strong and stable relations between the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Kosovo, based on shared values, strategic orientations and mutual commitments towards regional security and cooperation. Also, reaffirming the aim to strengthen trilateral security and defense cooperation to enhance security and stability in Southeastern Europe and the Adriatic-Ionian region.

Likewise, the preamble emphasizes that the declaration has been reached, also emphasizing the importance of joint efforts to respond to new security challenges, hybrid threats, and other risks that could undermine regional, European, and international stability.

“Taking immediate action to develop defence capabilities, recognising the ambitions stemming from NATO’s Strategic Concept and the European Union’s Strategic Compass, designed to enhance our ability to protect our territories and people, and to contribute to international peace and security”, the preamble continues. “Advancing joint steps to increase defence industrial cooperation and production in line with NATO’s Commitment to Industrial Expansion and the European Union’s plan for ‘Rearmament of Europe’”.

The declaration was signed in Tirana on March 18. In it, the ministers expressed their determination “to ensure that we are well positioned to confront current and emerging threats, and to achieve our defense and security objectives.”

A day earlier, President Vjosa Osmani said that Serbia is the only country in the Western Balkans that poses a threat to the region. She emphasized this after her Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vučić, warned that the country he leads is threatened by the military agreement between Kosovo, Albania and Croatia.

President Osmani insisted on Friday that the agreement aims to do the opposite. She also said that it is a practice that happens all the time within the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) countries that sign agreements based on the same values ​​that they share. She insisted that Serbia has spread propaganda, after the signing of the document between the three countries.