Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anušić commented on the proposal by Kosovo’s defense minister for a potential tripartite cooperation in weapons procurement with Albania and Croatia, clarifying that such an agreement could only realistically happen between Albania and Croatia, as both are NATO members.
“Kosovo has different conditions for purchasing weapons, and it is difficult to form a joint procurement coalition with all three states,” Anušić stated, as reported by Vijesti.
Last month, reports suggested that Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia were working to put into practice a defense cooperation agreement signed five months earlier, on March 18, 2025, in Tirana. Defense ministries from Kosovo and Albania confirmed that expert groups had already begun drafting an implementation plan, with a trilateral guideline expected to be finalized and presented to the ministries for approval in September.
Kosovo’s Acting Defense Minister Ejup Maqedonci previously emphasized that the goal was to make joint arms orders rather than three separate ones, particularly from suppliers such as the United States, to benefit from lower costs and faster delivery.
“For example, if all three states are interested in the same weapons system from the U.S., we could place one collective order. While each country would finance its own share under its legislation, the delivery time and quantity would be determined jointly. Buying in larger numbers makes the systems cheaper and speeds up delivery,” Maqedonci told Radio Free Europe.
Any potential procurement would be financed through the national defense budgets of each country.
