Withers says Albania needs to do a lot for NATO membership

TIRANA, Sep. 22 – U.S. Ambassador to Tirana, John L. Withers II, said that Washington supported Albania’s reforms and its integration efforts into the international institutions such as NATO and the European Union.
In a talk show to the private television station Top Channel, Withers said that bilateral ties were the strongest ever in their history and said he would try to further deepen them during his term in the country.
Withers hailed Albania’s commitment in the fight against international terrorism alongside the United States.
The ambassador said he would try to increase interest of U.S. companies to invest in Albania, saying that commercial exchanges were still low. He said Albania has a good tourist potential and a good geographical position.
On a question referring to U.S. company Bechtel which is building a new road segment linking Albania to Kosova, Withers said that he had heard the allegations of manipulation of the tender but, on the other side, he also believed that the U.S. company would respect the entire legal context it is working in.
As expected, Withers spoke on Kosova making it quite clear that the stand supported in Washington, that “Kosova will be indispensably independent.” He added that everybody was expecting positive results from the extended talks. He also made it clear that Washington expects the creation of an independent Kosova and did not support Kosova’s partition.
The ambassador also said that his government strongly supported the fight against corruption in Albania and considered this a priority issue. He added that the fight against corruption is a society-wide campaign that should be conducted not only by the authorities but also by the population.
The ambassador also said that he had met with all official and political factions in the country and that he was closely following all the debates, but declined to be involved in any of them.
Withers said he gives high marks to Albania’s achievements in many spheres, adding that NATO membership is a complex process. “NATO has very difficult standards for membership,” he said. “It is the results that Albania’s citizens achieve which will define the final result,” he continued, adding that Washington supported the country’s efforts to integrate into NATO. He also said, however, that there is a short time until the Bucharest summit and much work remains to be done such as reforms in the electoral process, judiciary, and rule of law.
Withers, son of John Withers who is considered to be the founder of the USAID, is married to Maryruth Coleman, deputy chief of mission in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Former Ambassador Marcie B. Ries was also married to the U.S. ambassador to Greece.