Beja: Albanian coast suitable for landing of NATO forces

Commenting on the recent opening of a NATO airbase in Kucove, and the Albanian government's offer of the Porto Romano naval base near Durres to the Alliance, retired Admiral Vladimir Beja, former commander of the Albanian naval forces, says for Kosovo Online that infrastructure is the main contribution of Albania to the military organization.

Regarding NATO's confirmation that local experts are assessing the possibility of investing in Porto Romano, he considers it good news because the Albanian coast is suitable for NATO forces even under current conditions.

"The Albanian coast is suitable for force landing even under current conditions, as it can accommodate even large-tonnage ships requiring a certain depth, so Albania offered its ports and airports to NATO immediately after joining. Increasing the capacity of our ports and airports will certainly be progressive and will help strengthen security. The port of Durres is the largest in the country but does not have the appropriate capacity. For this reason, the Albanian state planned to build a new port in Porto Romano, which will have adequate security and depth standards. I have seen the project and can say that it is a large port, with more capacity than we need. This means that the capacity of that port will also serve NATO," Beja said.

He noted that the country had a long tradition when commenting on the Albanian naval fleet.

"When we talk about Albania's tradition in the naval combat fleet, I can say that we had a modern navy for that time, a truly dignified combat fleet that competed with other naval forces in the Mediterranean until the 1980s. We were once a part of the Warsaw Pact, and our contribution to that alliance was very significant, although we were later excluded from that agreement, and perhaps it turned out well for us to be excluded, considering how things stand today. However, that fleet would not withstand the test of time due to significant technological advancements," Beja believes.

He sees the opening of the NATO military airbase in Kucove as an extremely important tactical airbase due to technological advancements in the defense industry.

"The airbase in Kucove is tactical because it has a limited number of aircraft, but of extremely high quality. Also, the security of the base is at an exceptional level, as well as the operational range of these aircraft, which is very large. This makes the base more efficient today than it was when Albania had a large number of aircraft, perhaps ten times more than what will be stationed there today. This base is just the beginning of significant progress in national security, NATO activities in our country, considering that Russian aggression has shown that the world is not as peaceful as it seems," Beja concluded.