The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is visiting Albania on Thursday, as part of the two countries’ cooperation to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s large-scale invasion, according to the Associated Press.

Blinken will meet with top officials and focus on the future of the Western Balkans as Albania and neighboring countries seek to join the European Union, according to top US officials. Washington has strongly supported Albania’s EU membership, the same publication reports.

The US praised Albania’s leadership role in the former war-torn region and its recent role in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member. Albania is a member of NATO and has regularly sent small military units to international peacekeeping missions and NATO operations.

Albania will host an international summit on Ukraine later this month, which Ukraine’s president is expected to attend.

Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia may be discussed during Blinken’s visit. EU-facilitated negotiations to normalize their relationship have made slow progress, with occasional violent incidents fueling fears of instability. The United States and the EU have expressed concern over Kosovo’s recent ban of the dinar as currency in its Serbian municipalities.

Blinken is also expected to acknowledge the role of Albania, which after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 and the withdrawal of US and NATO troops, was the first to house some 3,200 Afghan refugees before they moved on to permanent establishment in the United States.

Blinken is expected to meet some of the few remaining Afghans still in Albania.

After the visit to Tirana, the US Secretary of State will go to Germany for the Munich Security Conference.