TIRANA, Feb.11 – U.S Secretary of State John Kerry is due to visit Albania on February 14 to discuss Albania’s further Euro-Atlantic integration and strong bilateral cooperation with the United States, the State Department has announced.
The visit corresponds with the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
While the agenda of the trip has not been officially disclosed, local media citing diplomatic sources have revealed the possible motives behind the visit of the U.S Secretary of State.
The issue of Iranian dissidents of the Mujahedeen-E-Khalq group will be at the top of Kerry’s agenda during his three-hour stay in Tirana.
The U.S Secretary of State is expected to express gratitude on behalf of the United States for Albania’s readiness to offer shelter to members of the Iranian dissident group, who are currently stationed at Camp Liberty in Iraq.
A few years ago, the previous right wing government agreed to take 210 Mujahedeen, whereas the current government has agreed to offer asylum to another 1000 MEK members.
During his brief stay in Tirana, Kerry will also be holding talks with the country’s main political leaders, Prime Minister Edi Rama and the leader of the opposition Lulzim Basha, with talks highly likely to focus on the judicial reform. The U.S ambassador in Albania Donald Lu has continuously highlighted the fact that the approval of the justice reform is at the top of American interests in Albania.
According to local media, another key issue on Kerry’s agenda is Kosovo. The U.S Secretary of State is also expected to ask Tirana to play a more active diplomatic role on Kosovo after the latest political developments in the country.
Albania has so far failed to lobby hard enough for Kosovo and several initiatives aiming to give Kosovo membership status in international organizations have failed to gain necessary international support, which raises question marks over Albania’s ability to play a stronger role.
Albania has also had little influence in the latest political developments in Kosovo and Kosovar leaders are not too keen on accepting Albania’s patronage.
Diplomatic relations between the United States and Albania were re-established on March 15, 1991, after over half a century hiatus. On June 22, 1991, James A. Baker became the first U.S Secretary of State to visit Albania after the country’s long period of isolation. John Kerry will be the fifth top U.S diplomat to visit Albania since then.
