US Senators Jean Shahin from the Democratic Party and Tom Tillis, Republican, co-chairman of the NATO observation group of the United States (US) Senate, met on Tuesday with the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Ram, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro Filip Ivanovic as would talk about "the important contribution of each country to the NATO alliance, continuous support to Ukraine and the role of the Balkan countries in improving regional stability", according to a statement from the office of Senator Sahin.
They also discussed how the US can continue to support those countries' bids for European Union (EU) membership.
Shahin and Tillis were joined by Republican US Senators Mike Rounds, Jerry Moran and Pete Ricketts.
"We have the opportunity to show our commitment to the Western Balkans by supporting each country's progress towards EU membership, so that our transatlantic alliance can achieve regional and global stability," said Shahin.
"It was great to meet the leaders of these important countries. Our unwavering unity clearly shows that the US will be determined to weaken efforts to undermine peace and stability in the region," the senator added in a statement.
"Today's meeting with the leaders of Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro was a productive conversation about their progress towards EU membership," Tilis said.
"The Western Balkans region is of key importance for European security, and as co-chair of the NATO observer group in the Senate, we made it clear that the US is committed to opposing totalitarian regimes, especially when Russia continues its illegal war against Ukraine and threatens our NATO allies. I am glad is that I have the opportunity to hear the leaders of these countries and to deepen the existing cooperation with our partners," said Tillis, as reported in the announcement.
A senior member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Shahin is one of the leading figures dealing with the region in the upper house of the US Congress. In April, Senator Šahin welcomed the adoption of her Law on Democracy and Prosperity of the Western Balkans in the committee, which is supported by both parties. She led three congressional delegations in the region in the past two years, and recently led a delegation with US Senator Peter Welch to North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Senator Šahin is also leading efforts to pass the Srebrenica Remembrance Law, which was introduced in October 2023. It was also supported by both parties.
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