Albania's NATO Airbase

Albania unveiled a newly refurbished NATO-backed airbase, highlighting the alliance's expanding footprint in southeast Europe as tensions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine rattled the region.

The base serves as the latest symbol of Albania's westward shift -- and a key military buffer in Europe as Russia wages war in Ukraine.

During the inaugural ceremony, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama stressed that the importance of the base "extended beyond Albania's borders".

Rama said the base was another element of security for the Western Balkans region which, he warned, "is not far from the threat... of the Russian Federation".

Located in an Albanian city formerly named for Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, the site was once home to dozens of Soviet- and Chinese-made planes left for years to rust in the open air on a former communist airbase.

For the past two years, the site in the central city now called Kucova has been transformed into a modern NATO-backed facility.

During the opening ceremony, four fighter jets staged a flyover before landing on the new runway during the event attended by NATO representatives and diplomats.

The jets flew in across the Adriatic from NATO's Aviano air base in Italy.

Several Soviet-era MiG jets were placed at the entry to the Kucova base evoking the country's communist past.

Construction at the base broke ground in early 2022 ahead of Russia's invasion of Ukraine the same year that has sparked fears of a spillover into NATO and EU member states.

After decades of global isolation, Albania became a NATO member in 2009 along with Croatia.

Its neighbor Montenegro also joined the Alliance.

The new base is likely to irk Moscow, which strongly opposes any NATO expansion into eastern and central Europe -- especially in the Balkans which has traditionally been torn between East and West.