The President of the National Council, Christa Markwalder (FDP/BE), will visit Albania from 18 to 19 November at the invitation of the President of the Albanian Parliament. Talks are set to focus on bilateral relations, EU integration and development cooperation.

During her two-day stay in Albania, National Council President Christa Markwalder will meet her counterpart Ilir Meta, Albanian President Bujar Nishani and Prime Minister Edi Rama as well as other members of parliament and business leaders. The President of the National Council will also inspect projects supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and take part in a discussion with students from the Academy of Political Studies in Tirana.

In Durres, Albania’s main port and second largest city, Christa Markwalder will meet the mayor, Vangjush Dako, for talks.

Albania and Switzerland enjoy good bilateral relations, which began at a diplomatic level in 1970. Albania is priority country for Swiss development cooperation. As part of its strategy for 2014-2017, Switzerland is supporting the process of democratisation and encouraging competitiveness in Albania.