Just two weeks before the US presidential election, the Albanian-American newspaper Illyria, published a statement attributed to the candidate for president of the United States, Joe Biden, presenting certain positions in the expected foreign policy towards Albania and Kosovo.
The statement posted on the social media page of Illyria states that the former number two of the White House is an old time friend of Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian-American community. As president, Biden vows that he will continue to support Albania’s security, and democratic and economic development in the region. In the statement, he undertakes to: “strengthen US-Albania relations by increasing defense relations, to ensure that Albania remains a strong ally in NATO and to expand economic and trade relations between the two countries. […] To support Albania on its path to membership in the European Union. This means helping Albanians implement difficult reforms – including those of the rule of law, anti-corruption, judicial and electoral reforms.”
An important part of the statement is dedicated to Kosovo, which Biden has visited twice. The Democratic presidential candidate self-declares as a defender of Kosovo’s territorial integrity and insists that the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia includes mutual recognition. Biden, who backed NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999, criticized Trump’s “unbalanced” policy towards Kosovo and Serbia, while vowing to restore honesty and equality between them as they move toward a normalization of relations.
