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ALBANIA-NATO-BALKANS
NATO to revamp Albanian air base: PM
TIRANA, Aug 5, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – NATO plans to modernize an air base in
Albania, giving the organization its first such site in the western Balkans,
according to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
“NATO will invest more than 50 million euros ($58 million) for the first
phase of the project alone, to modernise air base in Kucova,” some 80
kilometres (50 miles) south of the capital Tirana, Rama wrote on his Facebook
profile.
Kucova will serve as a supporting base for NATO’s air supply operations,
logistics, training and exercises, Rama said, adding that Albanian
authorities were also discussing with the United States a “further
modernisation of Albanian air capacities.”
Albania joined NATO in 2009.
The Kucova airport was opened in 1950s near the town of the same name that
later became Stalin town during the Balkan country’s alliance with the Soviet
Union.
The town was given back its old name after the fall of communism in 1990.
BSS/AFP/RY/1742 hrs