On the second day of the NATO Summit in Brussels, Prime Minister Rama had a meeting with the US President Donald Trump, which was announced by Defence Minister Olta Xhaçka.
According to the Defence Ministry's press release, "Albania has been among the first countries to respond positively to President Trump's strategy for Afghanistan by increasing 60% of our troops in the NATO Resolute Support mission".
At the 29th Summit of Heads of State and Governments of the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance held in Brussels on July 11-12, Albania's delegation was chaired by Prime Minister Edi Rama, with the participation of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ditmir Bushati and the Minister of Defence, Olta Xhaçka.
In the frame of the Summit, Minister Ditmir Bushati attended a special meeting of Foreign Ministers of the member countries of the Global Coalition against the "Islamic State," convened by the US.
"Defeating terrorism in all its forms by focusing on prevention and addressing ideological factors remains a key objective for all our countries and a challenge for the stability of the region," Bushati pointed out.
Deepening the cooperation between NATO and the European Union was also the focus of the Summit, and this commitment was reaffirmed by the signing of a joint statement between the two organizations, reaffirming their strategic partnership and mutual commitment for the implementation of cooperation in the field of defense and security.
As the Foreign Ministry announced, the Summit reaffirmed the strategic importance of the Western Balkans region for Alliance security as well as the growing importance of Albania, expressed through the multiplication of contributions to NATO and political operations, decision-making and policy-making of the Alliance, especially in the context of the region and the Open Door Policy.
Also, on the margins of NATO Summit, Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati met with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias, where they reviewed progress and underlined the need to maintain the focus and pace of talks on the countries' bilateral issues.