Bill Clinton confirms Albania visit

Bill Clinton confirms Albania visit

Berisha held a meeting with the former American president during a visit to the United Nations in New York, where he also met the Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon.

In a letter received by Berisha on Sunday, Clinton spoke warmly of his meeting in New York, and also officially accepted the invitation to visit Albania.

Clinton wrote that “it would be a pleasure for him to visit Albania,” according to a press release issued by the Albanian cabinet.

Though a date has yet to be set, sources in the office of the prime minister told Balkan Insight that the visit is expected in early fall.

“President Clinton started the NATO intervention, while Bush would be the one remembered as granting Kosovo its independence, so in a certain way a historical circle is closed by both of them,” Enkel Demi, editor of Albania’s private broadcaster TV Klan, commented earlier.

During their New York meeting, Clinton thanked the prime minister for the warm welcome granted to Bush in Albania and gave his support for Albania’s planned integration into NATO and the European Union.

President Bush received a “rock star” welcome during his eight-hour stopover on June tenth, the highpoint of his European tour, which was marred by protests and rioting elsewhere.

Pictures of the 43rd president of America, engulfed in an enthusiastic crowd in the small town of Fushë Kruja, were shown all over the world, giving the former communist state a much-needed public relations boost,  at a time when it is struggling to implement democratic reforms.

The U.S. leader’s visit also bolstered the Bush presidency at home, amid shrinking support for its handling of the war in Iraq.