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Kerry to Make Albania Stop Sunday


FILE - Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, right, and President Bujar Nishani, pictured during a government swearing-in ceremony in Tirana, Sept. 15, 2013, are among the officials U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will confer with Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016.
FILE - Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, right, and President Bujar Nishani, pictured during a government swearing-in ceremony in Tirana, Sept. 15, 2013, are among the officials U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will confer with Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Tirana, Albania, on Sunday to meet with senior government leaders and discuss Albania’s further integration with Europe.

Albanian President Bujar Nishani will receive Kerry at Tirana International Airport, before Kerry meets with Prime Minister Edi Rama, Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati and leaders of the opposition.

Altin Qato, director general of the Albanian police, said Saturday that security would be tight in the capital for the secretary of state's visit.

To ensure Kerry's safety, Albanian police will deploy more than 1,500 extra officers.

Kerry is the fifth U.S. secretary of state to visit Albania. James Baker went there in 1991, followed nine years later by Madeleine Albright. Colin Powell visited the country in 2003, and nine years later Hillary Clinton went to Tirana, where she addressed the Albanian Parliament.

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