WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met her visiting Albanian counterpart Lulzim Basha here Tuesday to discuss the future of Kosovo and Tirana's bid to join NATO, a Rice spokesman said.
"The secretary certainly encouraged Albania to continue the progress that it's made along the specific criteria that NATO has outlined as part of the membership action plan," deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.
"And I believe the secretary also did have an opportunity to thank the Albanian foreign minister for Albania's continuing contributions in the war on terror, including in Iraq and Afghanistan," he told reporters.
The two also discussed the situation in Kosovo, Casey said without elaborating.
After 18 months of failed negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo to resolve their sovereignty dispute, the majority ethnic Albanian province has vowed to make a unilateral declaration of independence, which is expected next month.
The move has the support of the United States and most of the European Union's 27 member states, but Belgrade, backed by Russia, is firmly opposed to giving independence to a region it regards as an historic Serbian heartland.
It has instead offered a large degree of autonomy.
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