Leadership Meeting with the US Diplomacy Officials at the State Department/

The President of the Pan-Albanian Federation of America VATRA (The Hearth) Elmi Berisha visited with the State Department Officers responsible for relations with Albania and Kosovo. The meeting with Mr. Keith West and Mr. Ilan Goodman highlighted the strong support for promoting American interests on issues of integration and cooperation with the European Union as well as furthering economic opportunities.

President Elmi Berisha voiced the important role of Vatra Federation as a highly respected institution of the Albanian diaspora that is well poised to advocate for the rights of Albanians. Advocacy is one of the main points of his program of Vatra’ of 21 Century, presented at the Michigan Convention in January.

Vatra’s delegation consisted of Pashko Camaj, Deputy Chairman for Program Outreach and Community, Besim Malota, Deputy Chairman for Organizational Affairs, Merita McCormack, who is DC based and a member of Vatra’s Executive Board , Rafaela Prifti, Chief of Advocacy at the Board of Directors and English Editor of Dielli. The visitors thanked the hosts for a very good meeting, reinforcing the dedication and commitment of generations of Vatra’s members