Military agreement between Albania, Kosovo and Croatia, Minister Vengu provides details

Albanian Defense Minister Pirro Vengu explained on the 'Debat' show on A2 CNN, details of the trilateral military agreement between Albania, Kosovo and Croatia.

Vengu said that the agreement between the three countries has very clear principles, which, according to him, are based on the EU's strategic priorities in the region.

He also said that there are other elements in the agreement, related to the regeneration of the military industry. Vengu added that we are aiming for the possibility of joint procurement of defense tools, equipment and systems.

The minister also added that the agreement between the three countries is an open initiative and invited Serbia to become part of it, while further saying that Belgrade and President Vučić have been prejudiced against these initiatives.

"Albania as a motherland has responsibilities beyond the Albanians of Kosovo, but also for the Albanians of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Our agreement has very clear principles. It is based on the EU's strategic compass and priorities in the region, on NATO's strategic priorities in the region and is simply a request for more attention from both of these entities regarding security in the region, as Croatia, Albania and Kosovo read it.

Secondly, we have other elements in the agreement that relate to the regeneration of the military industry in our countries. We are aiming for the possibility of joint procurement of means, equipment and defense systems. This is because the whole of Europe is in a situation where we need to increase military spending for the purpose of collective security.

And we cannot consider the collective security mechanism complete by leaving Kosovo out of these mechanisms. This is an open initiative, and if other countries in the region, including Serbia, wish to join this mechanism, they certainly have the opportunity to do so.

"It makes me understand from all these readings that I have seen and the reactions of various representatives in Serbia, that they do not want such a thing, they prejudge any cooperation of other parties for their own self-defense and not against Serbia," Vengu said, writes A2 CNN.

The pact, which has sparked strong reactions in Belgrade, is, according to Vengu, a natural alliance between three countries that face similar threats to their security.

"The initiative is not at all controversial. It is a completely natural tripartite alliance, initially articulated a year ago in joint regional round tables of the staffs of the Ministries of Defense and by my predecessor with the Croatian counterpart. Reaffirmed in the last Ministerial we had at NATO at the beginning of this year where I had a meeting with the Croatian counterpart and joint consultations with the Kosovar counterpart. It came naturally as a result of truly reading the threats that threaten the region from the point of view of security and defense, third-party interventions in the region, hybrid threats, from the cyber point of view, from the point of view of influencing and disinformation in our public debates. So a series of elements that we read the same way," said Vengu in "Debat" by Alba Alishani on A2 CNN.

The Minister of Defense further stated that such an initiative is in line with Kosovo's journey towards NATO and the EU, as it enjoys the support of the two member states of the Alliance in every discussion that takes place in its antechambers.

"Second, we support Kosovo as two allied countries, members of NATO. Kosovo is recognized by Croatia and for us constitutes a priority from the point of view of national security and our foreign policy and whenever we are given the opportunity to support Kosovo in regional tables, which are the antechambers of membership in the EU and NATO, we do so consistently. And one of the points of the trilateral agreement is the unwavering support of Croatia and Albania for Kosovo's progress in these regional initiatives, such as the Adriatic Charter which is effectively a country's antechamber before joining NATO", declared Vengu. /Telegrafi/