Albania, Kosovo biggest gift-givers to US diplomats

TIRANA, Sep 3 – The US State Department made known recently that Albanian and Kosovo officials gave more presents or highly-valued ones to visiting American dignitaries than in other Balkan countries last year.
The State Department’s gift protocol unit showed that former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who toured the region in October 2012, was the US official who received the majority of the gifts.
In Prishtina, Clinton received a blue scarf with black, purple, and blue beaded flowers, gold and red earrings and a red jacket with tan and green leaves, courtesy of Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga. Jahjaga also gave Clinton framed silver filigree jewelry, taking the estimated total value of the gifts to $990.
In Tirana Clinton received a filigree jewelry holder and a silver filigree box from Albanian President Bujar Nishani and Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Albania’s army chief of staff Xhemal Gjunkshi presented his US counterpart General Martin E. Dempsey with a sword, while the White House presidential chief of staff John Brennan was given three military medals in Bulgaria, and Tirana’s mayor Lulzim Basha offered former US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland a silver and pewter necklace with a circular pendant.
It is a well-known fact that Albania and Kosovo are the most pro-American countries in the world. According to Gallup’s 2012 Global World Leadership Survey, 87 per cent of Kosovo’s people and 80 per cent of Albanians approve of US leadership, the highest rating of any country in Europe.