In the course of his visit to the United States of America, Prime Minister Edi Rama met with the U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the U.S. Department of State.
Secretary Blinken welcomed PM Rama and congratulated Albania on its election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2022-2023 term. He also praised Albania’s commitment and contribution to United Nations bodies over the years and the efforts to promote peace and understanding between the nations.
U.S. Secretary of State specifically praised Prime Minister Edi Rama and his government for the readiness to provide shelter and safe harbour to the Afghan refugees in Albania. “I have to tell you, Prime Minister, what stays with me and will stay with me for a long time is the fact that early in the summer, after we announced that we were going to leave Afghanistan and end the war there, you were the first to offer to take in Afghan refugees, evacuees, and that’s exactly what you’ve done. I’m grateful to you and to the generosity of Albania that you gave safe harbor to well over 2,000 Afghans. I’m grateful for that, but also for the work that we’re doing every day in Europe on security in close – increasingly close ties, particularly through NATO, and also, as I said, on the Security Council, where we have many challenging issues to work on together,” U.S. Secretary of State Blinken said.
On his part, Prime Minister Rama thanked the U.S. Secretary of State and expressed pleasure that their meeting takes place in the beginning of a year that marks the 100th anniversary of the Albania-U.S. diplomatic ties. “We value as most precious this friendship, this relation. We are very proud to be on your side and to help as much as we can to give back what you have done for us during all these years, not just for Albania but also for Albanians in Kosovo and for Albanians all over. So we are very proud to be your allies and we’ll do our best to deserve this special friendship,” PM Rama said in his remarks at the meeting.
PM Rama and Secretary Blinken praised the excellent U.S.-Albania ties materialized through a series of partnership agreements of mutual interest and reiterated joint commitment to further deepening bilateral relations. Secretary Blinken expressed gratitude for the successful cooperation between the United States and Albania in many different areas.
