In Tirana on March 18, the defense ministers of Albania, Croatia, and the so-called Republic of Kosovo signed a Declaration on Cooperation in the field of defense and security. Although the declaration, strictly legally speaking, is a political act of intent that does not create rights and obligations between the signatory parties as an international agreement does, its signing immediately provoked a storm of sharp and opposing reactions from top officials in the Balkan region. This only confirms how strong interethnic and interstate antagonisms are in the Balkans, and how fragile peace is on Europe’s “powder keg” considering the opposing interests.
WITHIN THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK OF NATO AND THE EU
The preamble of this document clearly shows the broader geostrategic context in which the signatories of the Declaration have set the goals of their military-security cooperation. Albert Ragipi from the Albanian Institute for International Studies in Tirana highlights the geopolitical importance of this Declaration, which relativizes its legally non-binding character.
According to the preamble of the Declaration, this regional security initiative is aligned with the strategic plans of NATO and the European Union. Regarding the relationship with NATO, in the document signed by two members of the Western military alliance (Croatia and Albania), there is an emphasis on the intention to “align policies and positions with Euro-Atlantic multilateral institutions and structures for security and defense, to promote our national and shared regional interests and goals.” The document clearly states that cooperation in military education and mutual bilateral and/or trilateral exercises and training will all be conducted “in line with NATO and EU training and exercise policies to ensure that forces are adequately prepared.
IN THE ROLE OF LOBBYISTS
With this Declaration, Croatia and Albania send a clear message that they will also act as advocates of the security interests of the so-called Republic of Kosovo within the NATO alliance and as main lobbyists for Kosovo’s membership first in NATO programs for third countries and eventually, undoubtedly, in full NATO membership. This conclusion is clearly suggested by the Declaration’s words stating that the signatory parties “fully support Euro-Atlantic integrations,” which is primarily expressed in a “commitment to closer cooperation and coordination for the full integration of (so-called) Kosovo into regional security and defense initiatives,” as well as in assisting the “Euro-Atlantic perspective of Kosovo by supporting its status in NATO’s Partnership for Peace.”
For the separatist authorities in Pristina, membership in the Partnership for Peace, along with membership in the Council of Europe, is a priority regarding Kosovo’s membership in international organizations, and it enjoys undeniable support from Brussels institutions, as it was also explicitly supported by the former US presidential administration.
TIMING OF THE AGREEMENT
The signatory parties of this Declaration, in determining the goals of regional trilateral cooperation, also consider the new reality that has emerged within the Euro-Atlantic community after Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States, symbolically announced by the new U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance in his now arguably historic Munich speech. Since the signatory parties emphasize cooperation in the defense industry to increase capacity, master new technologies, ensure free access to resources, and secure unified supply chains, the preamble of the document explicitly links this aspiration “with the European Union’s plan for the ‘rearmament of Europe.’” In this regard, Croatia, Albania, and so-called Kosovo send an additional message: “We are determined to ensure that we are well positioned to respond to current and emerging threats and to achieve our defense and security goals.” Ramadan Ilijazi, a security researcher at the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), pointed out that “the timing of the agreement coincides with growing uncertainty regarding global security alliances,” which clearly points to current upheavals within the ranks of the “Collective West“.
AN ALLIANCE AGAINST RUSSIA
By explicitly linking their trilateral military-security cooperation with the announced militarization of the European Union and the United Kingdom, the signatory parties of this Declaration clearly signaled that their military cooperation and the announced regional military alliance are primarily directed against Russia and also against those countries in Southeastern Europe that Brussels politically and militarily associates with Russia. These primarily include the Republic of Srpska and Serbia. The use in the Declaration of terms and phrases regularly used by Western anti-Russian propaganda and European politicians—such as “hybrid threats,” “disinformation campaigns,” and “malicious foreign influence”—unequivocally points to Russia. Therefore, cooperation between Croatia, Albania, and so-called Kosovo in the military-intelligence and media-propaganda fields, as envisaged in point 3 of the Declaration, will be directed against its influence in the region. If the Republic of Srpska and Serbia are labeled by Brussels’ military and political structures as countries with an “unacceptably” strong Russian influence, then the cooperation of the Declaration’s signatories in these areas will also be directed against them.
THE ROLE OF THE ADRIATIC-IONIAN REGION
The broader strategic plans into which the latest initiative for regional trilateral military cooperation among Croatia, Albania, and so-called Kosovo is embedded—and against whom it is directed—can also be seen from the emphasis in the Declaration on security and defense cooperation and enhancing security and stability in the Adriatic-Ionian region. This region, along with the Danube region, is included in the EU’s macro-regional strategy – EUSAIR. With the rapid transformation of the European Union from an economic-political into a military-political alliance, the role of the Adriatic-Ionian region is also changing. It is increasingly gaining military importance, which is why the transportation and infrastructure connectivity of the countries of this macro-region—originally a key objective of the EUSAIR initiative—is increasingly subordinated to military rather than civilian interests and goals.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CORRIDOR 7
The true aim of the proposed military alliance between Croatia, Albania, and the so-called Republic of Kosovo can only be understood when viewed through the lens of the Letter of Intent for securing military mobility along the pan-European Corridor 7, which connects the Adriatic-Ionian with the Black Sea basin, and which was signed last year at the NATO summit in Washington by Italy, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria. That the formation of the new military alliance is directly related to securing strategically important Corridor 7 for the Western military alliance (whether NATO or an EU military alliance) is evident from the invitation that the Declaration’s signatories immediately extended to Bulgaria to join their regional military-security initiative.
Given that Corridor 7 would be of extraordinary importance on the southeastern flank of NATO in the event of a possible European military coalition engagement in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine (for the transport of troops and weapons from the Adriatic coast to Bulgarian and Romanian NATO bases on the Black Sea), the core of the future military alliance is comprised—certainly not by coincidence—of proven NATO protégés and beneficiaries: Croatia and Albania, as well as the Albanian separatist authorities from Kosovo. The omission of North Macedonia at this stage clearly indicates the intention to first constitute the announced military alliance around those most loyal to the military and civilian command in Brussels.
TIGHTENING THE NOOSE
Adelina Hasani from the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies not only confirms that “the military alliance concluded between Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia” is aimed at countering Russian activities in the region—which allegedly could lead to its security destabilization—but according to her, this military alliance is also a preventive response “against any other actor intending to destabilize the region.” In this context, the exclusion of two geostrategically important Balkan NATO members—Montenegro and North Macedonia—can also be understood as “sending a message primarily to Belgrade, but also to Skopje and Podgorica, that a ‘noose is tightening’ around them and that this process is approved by European addresses.”
The announced Balkan trilateral pact, which, regarding Kosovo, is entirely contrary to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, directly pressures Serbia to, on one hand, finally abandon its Serbian integrations, and on the other hand, to cease any cooperation with Russia—and even with China. Therefore, Daniel Serwer, commenting on the adoption of this Declaration, emphasizes that “Serbia is not a factor of peace and stability in the region,” because “it dominates the security sector of Montenegro and has partners in the Bosnian entity Republic of Srpska,” and furthermore “prevents the integration of Serbs from northern Kosovo into Kosovo’s institutions.”
A MESSAGE TO SERBIA
According to Albert Ragipi from the Albanian Institute for International Studies, “The Declaration is a roadmap for political cooperation, not a military provocation.” Through this document, Ragipi argues, Serbia is essentially being told to finally embark on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration, because “Serbia’s military ties with non-Western entities such as Russia and China” undermine its position and regional stability.
Under the impression of the military strength of the announced trilateral pact of Croatia, Albania, and so-called Kosovo, Serbia—according to the plans of Russophobic and anti-Serbian military strategists from Brussels and the local Balkans—is expected to turn its back on its only true historical ally, Russia, and simultaneously to permanently relinquish Kosovo and Metohija, as well as its closest ties with the Republic of Srpska and Montenegro.
