( dpa )- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha on Tuesday for talks on the Balkan country's desire to join NATO and resolving the dispute over the fate of Kosovo's drive toward independence.
"The secretary certainly encouraged Albania to continue the progress that it's made along the specific criteria that NATO has outlined as part of the membership action plan," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
The United States has backed a UN plan that would hand Kosovo gradual independence from Serbia, which has strongly opposed the plan over concerns the minority Serb population in the province could be marginalized by the majority ethnic Albanians.
Russia, a traditional ally of Serbia, also opposed the UN plan and had hinted at using its veto authority on the Security Council to block outright independence for Kosovo.
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