Diplomatic Diary: Albania's Berisha thanks United States for NATO membership support
30/09/2008
Albania's prime minister vows further co-operation with the United States. Also in diplomatic news this week: Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou is in Cuba, and Turkey's Gul says he will visit Iraq.
 "We will collaborate with all US institutions," Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha wrote to US President George W. Bush. [Getty Images] |
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha wrote to US President George W. Bush on Sunday (September 28th) thanking him for the US Senate ratification of a protocol for Albania's NATO membership. "We thank you for your contribution to this move, and we will collaborate with all US institutions," Berisha said in the note. Earlier, President Bamir Topi thanked Bush and the United States.
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Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday (September 26th), focusing on a summit on natural gas supply to Europe, which Bulgaria is scheduled to host next year. Stanishev also met with Croatian counterpart Ivo Sanader and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
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Cypriot President Demetris Christofias held separate meetings with Armenian and <b>Serbian</b> counterparts Serzh Sargisyan and Boris Tadic at the UN in New York. Sargisyan and Tadic pledged their countries' full support for the two Cypriot communities' recent efforts to reunify the island after decades of division.
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Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou left on Monday (September 29th) for a two-day visit to Cuba. He will meet with Cuban counterpart Felipe Perez Roque to discuss bilateral relations, the Cypriot issue and relations between Cuba and the EU.
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Macedonia expects France to support its EU and NATO bids, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Ivica Bocevski said on Sunday (September 28th) after a meeting in Skopje with French Secretary of State for Defence Jean-Marie Bockel. The two discussed Macedonian-French relations and Skopje's EU and NATO aspirations.
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Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Saturday (September 27th) he will soon visit Iraq to demonstrate Turkey's support for the Iraqi people. On Friday, Gul met with Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani at the UN in New York. In part, they discussed Turkey's ongoing military operations in northern Iraq against bases of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party.
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Montenegro and Russia signed an agreement abolishing their bilateral visa regime, media reported on Wednesday (September 24th). Signing it were Montenegrin Foreign Minister Milan Rocen and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in New York. The document will take effect in October.
(Various sources 23/09/08-30/09/08)
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