On June 13, a historic agreement will be signed between Kosovo and the United States in the field of defense, the acting Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, has announced.
The Macedonian stressed that this is the first defense framework agreement signed by the Kosovo Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense.
“The agreement addresses many areas of cooperation for a 5-year period and contains very important elements,” said Maqedonci.
The minister added that this agreement includes cooperation in the defense industry, including the production of weapons systems and ammunition together with the US.
The agreement also includes air defense, which will provide systems to protect Kosovo from possible air attacks.
“We have only made agreements of this level with Turkey before, and this will be the second at this level,” the Macedonian stressed.
He initially spoke about developments surrounding the international exercise Defender Europe 25, calling the decision to cancel the Distinguished Visitors Day in 2023 a hasty decision – but one that was beyond the control of Kosovo institutions.
“I think the decision was hasty, to cancel the Distinguished Visitors Day. However, I am empathetic in relation to the decision-making made by an institution that is not from Kosovo,” Maqedonci declared on Debat Plus.
He emphasized that despite past challenges, the Defender Europe 2025 exercise is one of Kosovo’s greatest achievements in cooperation with the US and NATO partners.
“This time we participated with almost 1 troops on the ground, in Babaj i Boka, but also in Albania, North Macedonia and Croatia. Kosovo was one of the 18 host countries, with approximately 1 participating troops,” he stated.
The Macedonian said that the US’s trust in Kosovo’s institutions has been high, especially in the professionalism of the Kosovo army, which for the first time has led the tactical command of the division that has directed activities throughout Southeast Europe.
“This time, it was in particular the trust that the US had in our institutions, including the Government and in particular in the professionalism of the Kosovo Army to establish the tactical command of the division that has led all the brigades in Southeast Europe, so all activities in Southeast Europe have been led from Kosovo. This has not been done by relying on the current NATO mission, but through direct cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and the KSF,” added Makedonci. /Dukagjin/