TIRANA, Albania – Albania’s defense minister said on Saturday that the western Balkan country had bought anti-tank javelin missiles to bolster its defenses.
Earlier this week, Lockheed Martin said the U.S. military had awarded two production contracts totaling 309 million for javelin missiles and related equipment and services. The agreement includes funding for more than 1,300 javelin missiles from the recent Ukraine Supplementary Appropriations Act and orders for several international customers, including Norway, Albania, Latvia and Thailand.
“There is no specific threat, not to create panic. We are a NATO member country and have solved national security issues. We are safe, “the minister told reporters.
“NATO is not a threat to any country, including Russia,” he said. Tirana welcomed Finland and Sweden as new members and supported the Alliance’s “open door” policy, which Peleshi said was “two independent sovereign states with high political, legal and military standards.”
Turkey, however, has so far said that Sweden and Finland are not willing to join NATO.
Three Western Balkan countries – Albania, Northern Macedonia and Montenegro – are NATO members. Albania joined in 2009.
