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Despite being one of the countries with the most pro-American population in the world, it seems that Albania has been left "forgotten" among the "forgotten", such as Cambodia, Libya and Bangladesh.
Albania has been without the presence of a US ambassador in Tirana for more than a year. In this period of 1 year, we have had as the voice of the USA in the country, the Charge d'Affaires at the Embassy of the United States of America in Tirana, David Wisner, who left a few days ago to make way for him, Nancy Van Horn. Meanwhile, the candidate proposed by President Joe Biden as US ambassador to Albania, David J. Kostelancik, is still awaiting approval by the Senate.
Delays in the appointment of diplomats are said to have come as a result of the obstacle that Donald Trump's candidate for vice president, JD Vance, has made for candidacies for more than a year.
After a year of wrangling between Vance and the State Department, the Republican senator was forced to endorse most of the nominees he had blocked in April, but Albania's Kostelancik was not one of them.
The delays have left vacancies in embassies that are temporarily filled by lower-level officials who do not enjoy the same status as presidential candidates. In our case as David Wisner and Nancy Van Horn.
This has made the leaders of Albanian politics to be free and to make various maneuvers to seize justice, independent institutions as well as to eliminate minor political opponents through electoral bargaining.
But for how long can this situation be postponed? If the only obstacle is Trump's replacement, then after the November elections in the USA, we may have a solution to the impasse and Albania may have its ambassador appointed before the parliamentary elections of 2025.
Is Albania the only country without a US ambassador?
From the data of the Department of State, there are 11 countries whose American embassies operate without ambassadors. In the ambassador registry updated on August 2, 2024, it appears that 11 countries currently have a vacant US ambassador position.
More specifically; Albania awaiting appointment of David J. Kostelancik./ Bahamas awaiting appointment of Calvin Smyre./ Bangladesh awaiting appointment of David Slayton Meale./ Cambodia awaiting appointment of Robert W. Forden./ Dominican Republic awaiting appointment of appointment of Juan Iturregui./ Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) pending appointment of John W. McIntyre./ Libya pending appointment of Jennifer D. Gavito./ Mauritania pending appointment of Christophe Andre Tocco./ Norway pending appointment of Mark Angelson./ Seychelles (a small country in Africa), pending appointment of Troy Fitrell./ Solomon Islands pending appointment of Keith. D. Hannigan.
These 11 countries, although they have a proposed candidate for ambassador, are still waiting for their appointment. Despite being one of the countries with the most pro-American population in the world, it seems that Albania has been left "forgotten" among the "forgotten", such as Cambodia, Libya and Bangladesh./ Pamphlet
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