Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Sunday that Kosovo had bought a batch of Turkish-made Bayraktar drones as the country grapples with unrest in the north, where ethnic Serbs refuse to recognize the authorities in Pristina, Reuters and News.ro reported. .

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Facebook post in which he was pictured in front of a drone with the defense minister that recent security spending had made the country safer.

He did not specify the number or cost of the drones, the first purchased by Kosovo, nor did he say what they would be used for.

Bayraktar drones gained worldwide popularity after being used by the Ukrainian military against Russian troops.

“Kosovo is now even safer and has always been proud of it,” Kurti said, adding that his government had increased its military strength by 80 percent and its defense budget by more than 100 percent in the past two years.

Formed 15 years ago, the republic is building an army, the number of which will reach 5,000 regular soldiers and 3,000 reservists.

The NATO military alliance also has more than 4,500 peacekeeping troops in the country of 1.8 million people.

In recent months, Kosovo has faced its worst ethnic violence to date in the north of the country, home to around 50,000 ethnic Serbs, with support from Belgrade.

Trouble erupted in May after ethnic Albanian mayors took office following local elections boycotted by Serbs demanding a decade-old deal for greater autonomy.

Kosovo intends to join NATO, but four members of the alliance still do not recognize its independence from Serbia, which was declared in 2008.

After the violence in May, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic put his army on alert and moved units closer to the border with Kosovo.