TIRANA, Aug. 10 – Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama had Wednesday a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a conversation initiated by Tillerson that lasted more than 20 minutes, Rama’s press office said in a statement.
According to the announcement, Secretary Tillerson congratulated Prime Minister Rama for the victory in the June 25 general elections.
The statement by the Albanian prime minister’s office added that Tillerson expressed “the conviction that the strong mandate he [Rama] has taken to govern alone obliges the Socialist Party to deepen the pace of reforms, to cleanse the administration from the corrupt and to score significant results in the fight against crime.”
The statement added there was a promise of continued support by the U.S. government for the Albanian government.
Secretary Tillerson also conveyed to Rama, according to the press release, “the very positive impressions of Vice President Mike Pence from last week’s meeting in Montenegro and reaffirmed the American will for a focused effort on developments in the region.”
Regarding the region, Prime Minister Rama “focused mainly on Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and the need to unlock the stalemate over Macedonia’s name.
The conversation between Prime Minister Rama and the U.S. Secretary of State has extended to the role of Albania in NATO and its contribution to the fight against violent extremism, for which Secretary Tillerson, according to the Albanian press release, “expressed the highest considerations.”
Prime Minister Rama also called for “intensifying cooperation with the United States in the energy sector, and especially oil and gas”.
