Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has said that Albania and Croatia have opened "an arms race" by signing a memorandum of defense cooperation with Kosovo.
Kosovo, Albania and Croatia signed a declaration in Tirana on March 18 to strengthen cooperation in the field of defense and security, which prompted reactions in Serbia.
"It is a difficult situation for us, but we have understood their message. And we will protect our country, we will deter them and we will always successfully defend it from any potential aggressor, even such a powerful aggressor," Vučić told reporters in Brussels on March 19.
Speaking after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Vucic stressed that the memorandum constitutes a "violation of the subregional agreement" and that he is "convinced that NATO was not informed about this."
He said he raised this issue in a meeting with the head of the North Atlantic alliance, but did not reveal what Rutte said about it.
"It is our duty to tell Mr. Rutte, people in NATO and everyone else that this is a violation of the so-called subregional arms control agreement from 1996," Vučić said.
He added that he and Rutte also discussed the situation in Kosovo and the relations between the Serbian Army and the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, as well as the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The declaration signed by the Defense Ministers of Croatia, Albania and Kosovo calls for the strengthening of trilateral cooperation and the importance of a joint response to security challenges, hybrid threats and other risks that could jeopardize regional stability.
The declaration includes, as reported by Croatian Radio Television, the promotion of defense capabilities and cooperation between defense industries, strengthening interoperability through education, training and exercises, countering hybrid threats, as well as full support for Euro-Atlantic integration.
The declaration leaves open the possibility for other countries to join it.
Serbia opposes Kosovo's independence because it considers the state part of it, although it is engaged in dialogue with Kosovo, under the mediation of the European Union, in a process that aims for the full normalization of relations.
In 2023, the parties reached an agreement on the path to normalization, which, among other things, requires Serbia not to hinder Kosovo's membership in international organizations.
Tensions between the two states have been high in recent years, and Kosovo has accused Serbia of being behind a series of attacks in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo.
Kosovo blames Serbia for the armed attack on the Kosovo Police in Banjska Zvecan in 2023, when a policeman was killed, as well as for an explosion in a vital water channel in northern Kosovo in November 2024./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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