Under the umbrella of nato, Germany has, over the past few years, obtained complete acceptance by the West of the deployment of both its ground and air forces in combat roles. Not only that, it now seems that the Kosovo conflict will gain for Germany that which it has sought all along in the Balkans: a warm water port.
Tirana, a deep-water port on the coast of Albania in the warm Adriatic Sea, is the plum. The port of Tirana, located near the junction of the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas, is within closest proximity of any port in either sea to the largest concentration of ballistic and anti-ballistic weaponry in the entire Mediterranean region. As Germany quietly performs its duty as a loyal nato member, the U.S. and Britain plus the nato allies busily reconstruct Albania’s infrastructure. Albania will become the main base of operations for the peacekeeping forces in Yugoslavia. The trade-off is the huge benefit to its weakened ex-Maoist economy. When the U.S. and nato withdraw, their place taken in the future by the coming Euroforce which will be initiated by the EU within the terms of the Maastricht Treaty, the German-led EU will take over all of the infrastructure put in place and maintained to that point largely by U.S. and British tax-payers’ money in support of their defense contribution to lame-duck nato.
Game, set and match to Germany. Germany—the peace-broker in Kosovo, the future administrator of Kosovo and of the whole Balkan Peninsula—the lead nation in the Eurocombine shortly to rule the European continent and extend its powerful reach globally to impact all nations.