The government of Kosovo earlier this week signed an agreement with the Turkish state-owned defense industry producer Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) for the functionalization of an ammunition factory in Kosovo, which will produce various calibers of ammunition according to NATO standards.
"In addition to the production machinery, the contract signed today also provides for staff training, maintenance for a certain period of time, and equipment with quality testing and calibration systems," the office of Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a statement late Monday.
"After functionalization, the factory will operate as a public enterprise and as a 100% local brand of the Republic of Kosovo," it added.
The agreement was inked by Kurti and MKE General Manager Ilhami Keleş.
"We have conducted exercises together with the Turkish army, we have purchased equipment, ammunition and weapons that Turkey produces, and now it is time for us to produce together in our country," Kurti said at the meeting with the delegation from the MKE that took place shortly before the agreement signing ceremony.
In a separate statement on his official social media account on X, Kurti called the agreement "pivotal" for his country's defense.
"Our new partnership with the Turkish company MKE, the country's leading defense company, will enable Kosova to operationalize our military ammunition factory, which will produce according to NATO standards. The agreement also includes provisions for staff training and the implementation of leading technology," he said.
Earlier in November, Reuters reported Kosovo's plan to build its first state-owned ammunition factory and drone design lab, to prop up the country's defense industry, citing Kurti at a Cabinet session.
He at the time revealed plans to form an inter-ministerial commission to oversee the development of the facility and lab and emphasized the need for a self-sustaining defense industry to support a big ramp-up in weapons and arms for the military due to growing tensions with Serbia.
Kurti has repeatedly said his country should be ready to face any threat from neighboring Serbia, which still considers Kosovo part of its territory.
NATO still has a force of more than 4,000 peacekeepers mainly in the northern part of Kosovo where in the past two years the country has seen its worst ethnic tensions since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
Kosovo has a light armed force but since Kurti came to power in 2021, he has stepped up the defense budget and in July 2023, Kosovo bought a batch of Turkish-made Bayraktar drones.
Early this year, the U.S. State Department approved a sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Kosovo for an estimated $75 million.
