Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anušić stated today in Brussels that military cooperation between Croatia, Kosovo, and Albania does not pose a threat to anyone and that its primary objective is regional stability.
“Albania is a NATO member and an EU candidate country, Kosovo aspires to EU and NATO membership, and Croatia is a member of both the EU and NATO. For this reason, our interests are shared. We are interested in the stability of this region of Europe, not its destabilization,” Anušić told the news agency Beta.
The Croatian minister recalled that Croatia also has a defense cooperation agreement with Serbia, signed in 2010, which covers nine areas of cooperation and remains in force.
“Croatia wishes to assist Albania and Kosovo on their path toward EU and NATO membership, just as we are ready to do for Serbia, should it decide to pursue the European or NATO path,” emphasized Anušić, who participated in the NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
He added that within NATO and the EU there are dozens of cooperation agreements and declarations aimed at exchanging knowledge and technologies and linking defense industries.
“We have never been a threat to anyone, especially not Croatia, nor do we plan to be. Our membership in NATO and the EU obliges us, and we neither can nor want to act otherwise,” the Croatian minister added.
The Chiefs of Defense of Croatia, Kosovo, and Albania met on Wednesday in Shkodër, where they discussed security challenges, deepening military cooperation, increasing interoperability, and strengthening defense capabilities.
Following the meeting, it was announced that the first joint trilateral exercise will take place later this year במסגרת the defense cooperation declaration reached last year.
Meanwhile, Serbia’s Ministry of Defense strongly condemned the meeting, claiming that such actions could have long-term consequences for security and destabilize the situation in the Western Balkans.
