Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia are expected to soon finalize an initiative in the field of defense, through which the states aim to increase interoperability. Such a partnership is very important, especially in the current geopolitical context, says former Member of Parliament in Croatia, Ermina Lekaj-Prljaskaj, in an interview for KosovaPress.
On March 18 of this year, the three states signed a declaration through which they committed to strengthening cooperation in the field of defense. The declaration was signed in Tirana by the Ministers of Defense. So far, it is not known whether any other country will join this initiative.
The agreement allows, in addition to joint exercises, the joint procurement of weapons.
“This case of cooperation between Croatia and Kosovo is very important. Croatia is part of NATO, it has great experience in the military field, and I think the state of Kosovo has seen this as well, where recently there have been more intensive meetings between the Kosovo army and the Croatian army, where they foresee various cooperation and trainings, weapons purchases, and so on,” Prljaskaj told KosovaPress.
Kosovo’s Acting Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, earlier told Radio Free Europe that on July 18 in Tirana, the implementation group held a meeting “to break down the plan at an operational level.”
Albania and Croatia are part of NATO, while Kosovo aims to join this alliance and expects that the partner states in this agreement will help it on the Euro-Atlantic path – specifically in joining the Partnership for Peace.
Official Belgrade opposed this initiative, and after the signing of the agreement, there were reactions from Serbia, which described it as an “open provocation.”
Minister of Defense Ejup Maqedonci said after the signing that the goal of the cooperation is not a threat to anyone, but rather a message to those who seek to threaten the region.
According to Ermina Prljaskaj, Serbia’s goal is the “incitement of conflicts.”
“Serbia’s goal is to incite further conflicts, to ignite fires of war also in other countries, not only in Ukraine, but also in Kosovo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We see this also with the case of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the case of Dodik—all of these are, so to speak, provocations from the Serbian side, which focuses on holding on to power in Serbia by provoking neighboring states. Let us not forget Montenegro, where part of the government is pro-Serbian. All these are factors that can incite a local war, not a global one, and at this moment we do not need such wars,” she said.
She also mentioned Belgrade’s close ties with Moscow.
Serbia continues to maintain good relations with Russia, and even after the war in Ukraine, it has not imposed sanctions against it, despite pressure from the West.
“Their goal is to incite. Everyone knows that Serbia cooperates with Russia—this is open—and of course we are talking about the geopolitical changes that can happen after such war provocations. So I believe that Kosovo will always be ready, just as Croatia is ready to defend its state, its borders, and sovereignty… Kosovo should not fall into Serbia’s provocations, but it must have an army that is ready and well-prepared. To be ready, it must be equipped with different weapons, as the state of Croatia is doing—meaning the defense budget should be increased, and Kosovo’s army should have training with states that are part of the European Union,” she said.
Furthermore, the former MP in Croatia emphasized the need for Kosovo to form new institutions as soon as possible.
The country is in political deadlock as MPs have not managed to constitute the Assembly of Kosovo even six months after the general elections.
“In every state where there is no governance, some projects always get stuck. I think it is truly time for the Assembly of Kosovo to be constituted and for the government of Kosovo to be formed, because the global situation at the moment is very unstable and we do not know what tomorrow will bring. It is very bad for a small state like Kosovo not to have a government to monitor and begin the implementation of projects. It’s not only about the projects, but also about the defense of the state, because we need stronger defense considering the neighboring state—Serbia—which always, with its provocations, causes clashes that ignite sparks of conflict not only in Kosovo but also in Bosnia and Herzegovina. If they could, they would also provoke in Croatia, but at the moment Croatia stands as a strong state that does not allow such provocations to reach the Croatian state,” she said.
