Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Albania.

The UK has a close bilateral partnership with Albania as a likeminded North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally. The Prime Minister visited Albania on 15 May and agreed an updated strategic partnership to strengthen cooperation on defence and security, justice, culture and economic growth. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Permanent Under-Secretary visited Albania on 16 and 17 July to further bilateral relations, advance UK growth objectives and support continuing joint operational collaboration to tackle the shared challenge of organised immigration crime. The Foreign Secretary and I have met on a number of times with Foreign Minister Hasani in the last year to discuss shared priorities. The UK looks forward to hosting Albania at the Berlin Process Summit this autumn.