The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga, during her stay in the U.S., is received by General Timothy Orr, in the Joint Forces Headquarters, in the military camp Dodge of the National Guard of Iowa and by the prefect of the city Johnston, Mrs. Paula Dierenfeld . President Jahjaga during her visit to Iowa is being accompanied by the Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo in the USA, Mr. Akan Ismajli, and the U.S. Ambassador in Kosovo, Mr. Christopher Dell.
At the reception organized in honor of President Jahjaga, General Orr stressed that the U.S. National Guard in Iowa has a state partnership with the Republic of Kosovo, which dates back for many years. He said the National Guard is helping the Kosovo Security Force to meet its Operational Capacities and praised its relations with Kosovo as excellent relations. He said it is important to expand and strengthen the partnership with Kosovo.
Meanwhile, the prefect of the city of Johnston in Iowa, Mrs. Paula Dierenfeld stressed that “it is the first time that a president of a foreign country visits this place and especially the National Guard military camp and this marks a powerful connection that this Guardand the city has with Kosovo”. She said that the cooperation between Kosovo and Iowa should be strengthened even more.
Thanking General Orr and Mrs. Dierenfeld for the very warm reception, President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga, stressed that the USA is a great partner and friend of the Republic of Kosovo and enjoys the respect of all citizens for the extraordinary support it has given for the freedom and independence of Kosovo.
President Jahjaga said that after the completion of the war period and the reconstruction process, the institutions of Kosovo together with the international partners are building a democratic state, built on civic principles, aspiring membership in the EU and NATO. President Jahjaga said that the Republic of Kosovo has established very good relations with the U.S. National Guard in Iowa and aims to increase this cooperation to a higher level.
“I used my visit to the United States of America to make a visit even to the State of Iowa because we, Kosovo, have a good cooperation with you, especially in the field of security in the training of our members of the Kosovo Security Force, for honest humanitarian missions of salvation, demining and assistance of the population in general, in emergency situations, or during natural disasters which is very helpful that our girls and boys to be professionally skilled and dedicated, filled with knowledge and experience, to serve the people and country”, said President Jahjaga.
She said that the cooperation between Kosovo and Iowa should be deepened further through town twinning and exchange of experiences and programs between them.
“This conjunction of ours should continue through the twinning of our cities, of Iowa and those of the Republic of Kosovo, to further deepen our close cooperation. This would help in the exchange of visits, of our experiences and of certain programs between them”, said President Jahjaga.
During her stay in Iowa, Presdientja Jahjaga has also visited the University of Iowa where she met with its executives with whom she discussed about the possibility of imposing cooperation at university level and then visited the Centre for Alternative Energy – the wind power plant and the Horticulture Research Centre.