Berisha meets with Bush in New York

TIRANA, Sep. 25 – Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha met with U.S. President George W. Bush at a roundtable titled ‘Democracy and Civil Society,’ held Tuesday in New York. The conference was considered by the Albanian premier as the culmination of his trip to the opening of the United Nations session.
The roundtable was attended by 20 heads of states.
Bush had separate meetings with all participants. In his meeting with Berisha they focused on Kosova. Bush guaranteed Washington’s full support to Kosova’s independence and encouraged the Troika work during these extended talks, according to Berisha’s press office.
Bush also mentioned his impressions from the visit to Albania in June, advising some participants to visit Albania which he considered a very interesting country.
The roundtable focused on democracy and its developments in each country and on what assistance the U.S. could offer.
Berisha mentioned during the meeting the Kosova issue, saying that Bush assured him of the U.S. stand for an independent Kosova.
Berisha said that some Baltic countries stated that Kosova was an indispensable condition for stability.
The Albanian premier also said that in all the meetings he had asked for support in the country’s integration efforts into NATO. “President Bush and the U.S. government guaranteed their full support, of course based on the reforms,” he said.
“I may say that from the knowledge I have from Brussels, where the 9th cycle of the Member Action Plan was introduced, that evaluations are very positive from the audience which listened to that. The process of NATO membership is a vital and historic process for us. Naturally, we should do our utmost to deserve the invitation in 2008. I hope our efforts and developments in the region will make it possible to receive this invitation at the Bucharest summit,” said Berisha.