Bangladesh sending its first-ever delegation to Kosovo

Bangladesh is sending the first-ever official delegation to Kosovo to explore the ways and means of bilateral engagements, a year after the official recognition.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam will lead the delegation of senior officials of his ministry from Feb 16 to Feb 20. They will also visit neighbouring Albania after a long time, the foreign ministry said.

Kosovo’s foreign minister had invited Bangladesh at the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the declaration of independence. The state minister will attend the ceremony in Pristina on Feb 18.

Kosovo, a territory in Southeastern Europe, declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo. Bangladesh officially recognised the country in February last year.

During the visit, the foreign ministry said, the state minster will meet President Hashim Thaçi and discuss “the ways and means to cement meaningful and well-founded bilateral relations between the two countries”.

In Albania, he will hold bilateral talks with his counterpart Etjen Xhafaj.

“They will discuss various aspects of Bangladesh-Albania bilateral relations and the ways to further strengthen it,” the foreign ministry said.

Views on significant regional and global issues of mutual interest will also be exchanged during the meeting, it added.

The state minister will again extend Bangladesh’s invitation to Albania for the forthcoming OIC foreign ministers’ meeting to be held in Dhaka in May this year.