Thirty years after establishing diplomatic relations between Albania and Ukraine, Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka announced it would open an embassy in Kyiv, a decision that was officially confirmed by the Council of Ministers on Thursday.
The announcement was first made on 12 January – the same day that relations between the two countries were established three decades before.
“On the occasion of this 30th anniversary, I am happy to announce that Albania will increase its level of representation in Kyiv by opening its embassy in Ukraine,” Xhacka wrote on Twitter last week.
She added, “I look forward with pleasure to the continuation of the cooperation with my friend and colleague Dmytro Kuleba to advance and strengthen our cooperation even further in the future.”
The minister continued that Albania will support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s “illegal war of aggression.”
“Today we are proud to stand by Ukraine as true friends on the right side of history. Ukraine’s heroic resistance is a fight for freedom and a refusal to return to the tyranny from which we both emerged long ago,” she wrote, referencing Albania’s exit from a brutal communist regime in 1991.
The announcement was then formalised on Thursday through a decision of the Council of Ministers which was then published on their website.
While the decision enters into force immediately, no timeline has been given for setting up the mission.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Tirana Municipality renamed the street on which the Russian Embassy sits, “Free Ukraine Street”, prompting the embassy to relocate to another part of the city.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
