Bush Receives Hero’s Welcome in Albania

George W. Bush was greeted with enthusiasm Sunday when he became the first U.S. president to visit the Balkan nation of Albania.

For Bush’s several-hour visit, U.S. flags were draped over buildings in the capital of Tirana and a set of commemorative stamps were issued, the BBC reported. Bush’s visits elsewhere in Europe have been marked with protests.

Albania is a strong ally of Bush’s war on terror, has tripled its troop numbers in Afghanistan to 140 and has about 120 soldiers in Iraq.

Bush was to meet with Albanian soldiers Sunday and was expected to express support for Kosovo’s push to gain independence from Serbia, the BBC said. Kosovo is mostly ethnic Albanian.

Bush also was to meet with the prime ministers of Croatia and Macedonia in Tirana.

During his week-long European tour, Bush has been at the Group of Eight summit in Germany, as well as the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy.

He had a stop scheduled later Sunday in Bulgaria, a new NATO member, where protests against his administration’s policies were expected.