TIRANA —An old Soviet-era air base in Albania is set to become a tactical base of operations for NATO. It means there will be a NATO base in the western Balkans when it re-opens in 2023. Military spending is now on the rise in much of Europe — most notably in Germany — but also in the Balkans. Tensions are also rising in Albania"s backyard and Balkan rivals Croatia, which is a NATO member, and Serbia, which opposes the alliance, appear to be in a mini arms race. Serbia has bought MiG-29 fighter jets and tanks from its fellow Slavic ally Russia, whilst Croatia has bought 12 Rafale fighter jets from France. Work started in January to upgrade the Kuçovë air base as a modern hub of operations and its ability to host an array of modern era fighter jets. NATO and Albania have pledged €50 million for the Kuçove air base which is expected to be operational by the end of 2023. It"s 85 kilometers south of Tirana, the capital, is named after the small nearby town of Kuçovë — which under Albania"s communist regime was called Stalin City. It was built in the 1950s using prison labor under leader Enver Hoxha who, despite being communist, resisted joining the USSR. Viktor Vangjeli, 83, served for 27 years in Kuçovë flying MiG-19s before he retired in 1990. He talked about the daily flights countering rare air space violations by neighbors during the Cold War. "The flying intensity during those times under the Cold War has been very high," he said, adding that this air base "was in charge, until 1962, for the coverage of all the country"s air space". He said that Kuçovë"s conversion to a modern NATO hub would be beneficial to the next generation of Albanian pilots who would be trained to fly modern jets. After the fall of the communist regime in 1990, Albania"s air force had more than 200 MiGs, a type of Soviet era fighter jet, across three air bases. Most of them have now been scrapped and the country"s old Russian and Chinese-made jets stopped flying in 2005. For a few years, some old Antonov-2 planes, another Soviet era warplane, were used for agriculture or other purposes. Albania"s air force now has some Cougar helicopters and is expecting to get a few Blackhawk ones, but no jets. Albania, a NATO member since 2009, also hopes to join the European Union. It"s joined in with the EU"s hard-hitting sanctions and has strongly denounced Russia"s aggression. — Euronews