Albania’s Minister of Defense, Pirro Vengu, said that Albania, Kosovo, and Croatia do not need permission from anyone to sign the defense agreement, responding to statements made by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić regarding the deal.
Vengu revealed that Serbia had also been invited to join the agreement.
“I have definitely noticed, from time to time, a sense of panic in official statements coming from Belgrade. I can tell you that this is a trilateral agreement that is not built against anyone. In fact, I was the first to extend an invitation why not for Serbia, if it believes that regional stability, resilience, and the Euro-Atlantic future of the countries in the region are important, to join this initiative. As you can imagine, I have not received any response to that invitation. I can say that Croatia, Albania, and Kosovo have already begun cooperating under this agreement, whether in the military sphere, training, academic and educational fields, as well as in military production,” Vengu said.
He also outlined the reasons for cooperation with Kosovo.
“With Kosovo, we have an agreement regarding armored vehicles. This comes for two reasons: first, because we read real risks and threats in the region; second, I do not believe that Croatia, Albania, and Kosovo need permission when it comes to this matter. Third, we welcome other countries to join us as well. This is an open partnership. Many call it a defense agreement. We have noticed that all three countries have similar needs when it comes to increasing capacities,” he emphasized.
