{"id":33693,"date":"2022-03-30T13:26:01","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T11:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?p=33693"},"modified":"2022-03-30T13:27:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T11:27:01","slug":"natos-upgraded-kucova-air-base-set-to-open-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/natos-upgraded-kucova-air-base-set-to-open-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO\u2019s upgraded Kucova Air Base set to open in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Albania\u2019s communist-era airbase is being transformed into a tactical station for NATO operations, with plans for its reopening set in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Most European states have boosted their military spending, notably Germany and even the countries in the Balkan Peninsula.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions have been on the rise right on Albania\u2019s doorstep, with Croatia, a NATO member country, and Serbia, a defiant of the alliance, seemingly engaging in a small military race.<\/p>\n<p>Serbia is upgrading its MiG-29 aircraft, tanks, and anti-missile system provided by Russia, meanwhile, Croatia purchased twelve aircraft of the French Dassault Rafale.<\/p>\n<p>The modernization of the Ku\u00e7ova airbase began in January, with the aim of turning it into an operative center that will host modern fighter jets.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33695\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33695\" style=\"width: 696px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/avion.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-33695\" src=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/avion.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"696\" height=\"415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/avion.webp 696w, https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/avion-300x179.webp 300w, https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/avion-150x89.webp 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33695\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An old aircraft at Kucova airbase<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Located around 85 kilometers south of the capital, NATO and Albania will invest \u20ac50 million in the base.<\/p>\n<p>The base was built by prisoners during the Communist regime in the 50s.<\/p>\n<p><strong>YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/albania\/2022\/01\/20\/construction-work-begins-on-natos-airbase-in-kucova\/\">Construction work begins on NATO\u2019s airbase in Kucova<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/albania\/2022\/03\/20\/nato-will-be-launching-a-balkan-airbase-in-kucove-by-2023\/\">NATO will launch a Balkan Airbase in Albania by 2023<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/albania\/2021\/05\/24\/lt-col-erol-munir-albania-will-receive-two-black-hawks-of-its-own-in-2023\/\">Lt. Col. Erol Munir: Albania will receive two \u201cBlack Hawks\u201d of its own in 2023<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Albania\u2019s communist-era airbase is being transformed into a tactical station for NATO operations, with plans for its reopening set in 2023. Most European states have boosted their military spending, notably Germany and even the countries in the Balkan Peninsula. Tensions have been on the rise right on Albania\u2019s doorstep, with Croatia, a NATO member country, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":33694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[1058,1059,270,151,1057,847,791],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NATO\u2019s upgraded Kucova Air Base set to open in 2023 - Euronews Albania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/natos-upgraded-kucova-air-base-set-to-open-in-2023\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NATO\u2019s upgraded Kucova Air Base set to open in 2023 - Euronews Albania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Albania\u2019s communist-era airbase is being transformed into a tactical station for NATO operations, with plans for its reopening set in 2023. Most European states have boosted their military spending, notably Germany and even the countries in the Balkan Peninsula. 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