A group of 30 Albanian soldiers have joined the KFOR 1 NATO international mission in Kosovo, in the presence of Albanian Minister of Defense Niko Peleshi and Kosovo Army Chief Bajram Begaj.
Peleshi described the mission as extremely important for Kosovo and the Western Balkans.
“After the withdrawal and closure of the mission in Afghanistan, we pledged to continue to increase our participation in NATO and international missions in general, and this is the case. We are materializing the increase of our presence in KFOR, for the first time we lead in this mission, “KFOR 1 including a special contingent of the best boys and girls we have in the FA,” he said.
The minister added, “in these challenging days of global peace and security, this doubles and increases the attention, but also the responsibility of each of us and each of you to serve professionally, with military discipline, with dignity in respect of the code of ethics and values of our alliance.”
Speaking about the situation in Ukraine and the messages given by NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, Peleshi said that “not an inch of this alliance can be touched, because NATO is the most powerful military and political alliance in the world.”
Addressing the troops who left with a mission, the Minister of Defense stressed: “I would like to see your work there every day as a contribution to global peace and security, as a contribution to the freedom of our citizens, the citizens of the world, the citizens of the region, because in the last 48 hours the normality as Secretary-General Stoltenberg said has changed; we are in a new normalcy,” he added.
“We have to be vigilant, we have to be vigilant, we have to be dignified with our allies and make our flag fly proudly alongside other Alliance flags,” Peleshi concluded.
Begaj said that “such missions have responsibilities due to the very turbulent security situation that is developing and precipitating in dangerous and extremely threatening escalations on the east side of the Alliance.”
He added that global security is more endangered and threatened than ever and that the region and country are not immune to the actions of Russia.
“So in these tense situations you will be there for a great task that becomes even more meaningful for security, freedom, peace, to serve the Alliance and our country.”
Just yesterday, the EU decided to double the amount of troops stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to concerns over the deteriorating situation caused by Russia invading Ukraine.
