Albania sets up first NATO base in Western Balkans
NATO member Albania on Monday inaugurated a refurbished Soviet-era air base, the alliance's first in the Western Balkan region. The air base is named after the small town of Kucova, 85 kilometres south of the capital Tirana. Officials said the new air base will serve as a modern hub of operations, for training and hosting an array of fighter jets. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama welcomed the reactivation of the air base, which was officially closed in 2005, as "another element of security from our region of the Western Balkans, which we know well may be endangered from the neo-imperialist thr...