US Congressman Ritchie Torres has said that Kosovo’s membership in NATO is urgent.

In an interview with Kanal 10, he said it was time for Kosovo to have its place in the North Atlantic Alliance.

“As leaders of the free world, the United States must support its allies. We do not have a bigger ally in Southeast Europe than Kosovo, and I worry that without NATO membership, Kosovo could be open to attacks by Serbia and Russia. “We know that countries like Serbia, which poses a threat to Kosovo, are on the side of Russia and Kosovo on the side of the United States, so it must be part of a security umbrella that NATO provides,” Torres said.

He also said that Europe has an obligation to accept Kosovo in its family.

“Europe has an obligation to recognize Kosovo’s independence because Russia is already the biggest threat to Europe’s security and Europe must not allow itself to be intimidated by Russia for not recognizing Kosovo as part of the European family and the Western family. The Russian occupation of Ukraine led to a more unified west, between the US and Europe. Vladimir Putin did not calculate well and underestimated the unity of the west. “We are seeing a unity we have not seen before and this could be a strong basis for NATO enlargement for countries like Kosovo,” Torres said.