Albania, Israel Pledge Anti-Terror Cooperation

Rama said during his visit to Jerusalem on Monday that Albania is ready to collaborate with its ally Israel in order to contribute to the country's security.

The agreement also expressed the willingness to cooperate in the fields of energy, agriculture, water management, tourism and culture.

Rama's visit was to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between two countries.

Netanyahu noted however that the friendship between the two countries dated back longer than that, even though Albania is a majority Muslim country.

Despite being occupied by the Nazis during the War World II, Tirana did not hand over lists of the Jewish people living in the country, while around 1,200 Jewish refugees from other Balkan countries found refuge in Albania during the war.

"We know that the people of Albania are not merely good friends of the people of Israel today, but in the crucial period of the Holocaust, they stood shoulder to shoulder with Jewish people persecuted in Europe," Netanyahu said.

He also thanked Edi Rama for the Albania's support during an International Atomic Energy Agency conference in Vienna in September.

Albania was among the 61 countries that backed Israel over a resolution calling for the inspection of its nuclear sites, which was tabled by Egypt and backed by all the other Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East.