Albania, Kosovo, Croatia to hold trilateral military exercise this year

​​​​​​​By Talha Ozturk

SARAJEVO (AA) - Albania, Kosovo and Croatia will hold a military exercise this year under a joint declaration on defense cooperation signed in 2025, officials said Wednesday.

Arben Kingji, chief of the General Staff of Albania, Bashkim Jashari, commander of the Kosovo Security Force (FSK) and Tihomir Kundid, chief of the General Staff of Croatia, met in the northern Albanian city of Shkodra within the framework of a joint declaration signed March 18, 2025.

Pirro Vengu, Albania’s defense minister, described the meeting o as an important step under the trilateral agreement between Albania, Kosovo and Croatia.

“More military cooperation, interoperability and operational readiness,” Vengu wrote on US social media company X.

He noted that discussions focused on developing joint exercises and training to address security challenges and hybrid threats, adding that 2026 will host the first trilateral exercise in line with NATO’s Strategic Concept and Euro-Atlantic objectives.

But Serbia’s Defense Ministry said the meeting poses a serious threat to peace and stability in the region.

It argued that the cooperation could have long-term security consequences and the potential to destabilize the Western Balkans, claiming that the military alliance is viewed as pressure and a security threat to the Serbian people in the region.

Albania, Kosovo and Croatia signed the joint declaration on defense cooperation and have since held periodic meetings under the framework. Serbia has previously voiced objections to the initiative.