Poland Backs Albania's NATO and EU Ambitions During Presidential Visit

Albanian President Alfred Moisiu arrived in Warsaw on Tuesday for a two-day state visit, during which Poland expressed backing for Albania's bids to join both NATO and the European Union.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski described NATO membership for Albania as a relatively near-term prospect, calling it a stabilizing force in the Balkans, while acknowledging that EU accession remained a longer road. "Albania's relatively early membership of NATO would deepen this role," Kaczynski said.

The two presidents also discussed Kosovo's future. Albania supports full independence for the territory, where ethnic Albanians make up roughly 90 percent of the population. Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999, and Serbia has offered autonomy rather than statehood.

Albania, one of Europe's poorest countries, took its first formal step toward EU membership this year by agreeing on a set of stabilization and reform measures with Brussels. No target accession date has been set for the nation of 3.6 million people.

Moisiu also held talks with Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the president's twin brother, and met with parliamentary leaders and business figures. He visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with a trip to Krakow and the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site planned for Wednesday.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.