Kosovo loves the U.S. even more after recent military donation
Mon Aug 30
Kosovo's armed forces are growing with the help of the U.S., a relationship that began in 1999 and has continued through aid for the military, COVID relief, and more. Three years after gaining independence from Serbia, Kosovo received its final military donation from the U.S. in the form of 55 military vehicles. The country's Defense Minister says this gift will strengthen the Kosovo Security Force's military capacity as they work to double their troops over a decade.
Why is the U.S. even involved? The U.S. often provides aid to countries in exchange for a prioritization of American goals in the region. This seems to be playing out well in Kosovo, regarded by some as the most pro-American country in the world. The country's capital has boulevards named after presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, an 11-foot tall Clinton statue, and both Clinton and Hillary are popular children's names. And even when other U.S. allies began to see America as more of a threat during the Trump era, Kosovo had a 75% approval of the Trump administration, ranking Kosovo first in the world for their view of U.S. leadership.
And all this comes at a time of increased scrutiny of American spending on defense, heightened recently through the involvement in Afghanistan and Israel (the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid). The U.S. promised $3.6 billion to Israel in 2019, all but 0.2% of which was for the military. And that same year, a major report revealed that the Afghanistan war was a failure costing the U.S. $1 trillion and 6,000 American lives.
Now the government accountability office is arguing the Department of Defense needs to better manage their spending after losing roughly $11.4 billion in payment errors in 2020. For context, the total year's spend was $714 billion, which is expected to increase to $733 billion this year. | |
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