US Ambassador to Albania Candidate Sets Priorities

David J. Kostalancik, appointed by President Biden to serve as ambassador of the United States to Albania, today presented his priorities as ambassador:

If confirmed in this task, I will work with Albania to strengthen democratic institutions and justice institutions. President Joe Biden has defined the fight against corruption and organised crime as part of our national strategy. This is a key challenge for Western Balkan countries”, said Mr. Kostalancik. Progress of reform in justice will help Albania progress towards European integration, He stressed.

One of the sectors of close co-operation between the two countries, the appointed ambassador said, would be further strengthening of the defence partnership. Iran's cyberattack on Albania in 2022, he said, showed the need to invest in infrastructure and training to build a sustainable cybersystem. The United States, he said, has sent experts to Albania to repair the damage done and have offered $50m to that end.

A third priority, he stressed, will be strengthening the business climate. The interests of the United States, the expected ambassador said, are served through a transparent market in Albania.

Mr. Kostelic served in Albania even earlier in the 1992-1994 period, as the first representative for political and economic issues at the newly opened American Embassy in Tirana. Prior to his appointment as ambassador, he served as the Council for Foreign Policy of the U.S. Chief of State, General Mark Milley.

Mr. Kostalancik is a 30-year-old diplomat. He served twice at the American Embassy in Moscow, in US OSCE and NATO missions, as well as in Ankara, Turkey.

Diplomat Kostelicc, originally from the state of Illinois, graduated from Northwestern University in this state. He speaks Russian, Hungarian, Albanian and Turkish.

If his candidacy is approved by the Senate, diplomat Kostelic will replace the current American ambassador to Albania, Yuri Kim. /Vosa