Prime Minister Edi Rama received today a phone call from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Secretary Tillerson congratulated the Prime Minister on the meaningful victory in the election. He expressed his conviction that the strong mandate taken to rule the country alone, obliges the Socialist Party to deepen the pace of reforms, to clean up the administration from the corrupt and to score significant results in the fight against crime.

By expressing to the Prime Minister all the support of the US government in the new governing mandate, the Secretary of State conveyed PM Edi Rama the very positive impressions of Vice President Pence from last week’s meeting in Montenegro, and reaffirmed the American will for a concentrated focus on developments in the region.

Prime Minister Rama thanked his interlocutor for the call, and presented him an overview of the regional situation from the perspective of our country, focusing mainly on Kosovo – Serbia dialogue and on the need to solve the dispute concerning the name of Macedonia.

In the last part, their conversation extended to the role of Albania in NATO, its contribution to the fight against violent extremism, with regard to which Secretary Tillerson expressed his highest considerations. Prime Minister Rama asked for intensification of cooperation with the US in the energy sector and especially of oil and gas, which was received with much interest by the interlocutor.

The telephone conversation between the two lasted more than twenty minutes.