Spahiu: Kosovo is seeking additional backing from the US through Bondsteel amid uncertainty over NATO's functioning

Analyst Nexhmedin Spahiu believes the initiative to turn Camp Bondsteel into a permanent US military base is a continuation of efforts to secure a source of support in case NATO does not function as expected.

Spahiu told Kosovo Online that NATO's functioning has been called into question following the conflict between Israel and Palestine, as well as the conflict involving Israel, the United States and Iran.

“Kosovo therefore wants additional backing it can rely on. Camp Bondsteel is quite large, regardless of whether the Americans reduce the number of their personnel, or troops. It still has significant capabilities. Changing its status would mean relying on something concrete, namely the United States, rather than NATO as an organization whose functioning has been called into question,” Spahiu said.

Regarding the decision by the United States to deploy members of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and elements of the 1st Infantry Division instead of National Guard personnel, Spahiu said cooperation between Kosovo and the US had always existed and that this was simply a continuation of that cooperation.

“At certain points, it was strained by crises arising from operations carried out by the Kosovo government in the north, but the criticism was not serious enough to damage relations between Kosovo and the United States,” he said.