Blinken is due to hold talks with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and meet with Albanian youth as part of a forum at the “Pyramid”, a large pyramid-shaped building in the center of the city that was once dedicated to the memory of communist leader Ember Hodja.
For Washington, the goal of this trip by the US secretary of state – his first to Albania since taking office – is to reaffirm “the strength of the bilateral relationship with this key partner for stability in the Balkans”, according to the senior official of State Department Yuri Kim.
“We want to insist and underline the excellent cooperation we have with Albania,” Kim explained. Washington particularly welcomes Albania’s steadfast support for Ukraine vis-à-vis Russia, and last year hailed its chairmanship of a tumultuous UN Security Council meeting in the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The US also wants to thank the Albanian authorities for having, after the August 2021 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, welcomed Afghan refugees who had cooperated with the United States and were awaiting entry visas to resettle in the United States.
Blinken is going to meet with some of them in Tirana. Giant posters hailing Blinken’s arrival have been put up in the streets of Tirana. According to recent polls, a large majority of Albanians have a very positive image of the United States.
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