Albanian President Bamir Topi paid a surprise visit to Iraq on Sunday, saying his country is willing to contribute more troops to Iraq, a statement from the president's press office said on Monday.
Topi met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the commander of the multi-national force in Iraq, U.S. General David Petraeus, and flew to Mosul to visit the 71 Albanian soldiers stationed at a U.S. Air Force base.
"The president praised the good bilateral relations between Albania and Iraq, and positively assessed the efforts by the Iraqi government and the international community to stabilize the country and establish the rule of law," the statement said.
Topi also expressed his country's willingness to send more troops to Iraq, saying that the Albanian troops in Iraq would help boost Albania's bid for NATO accession.
Albania has been longing to join NATO for years. It signed the Adriatic Charter with the United States along with Croatia and Macedonia in 2003 in order to facilitate its entry into the alliance, from which it hopes to receive entry invitation at its next spring summit in Bucharest, Romania.
Source: Xinhua
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