WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and visiting Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama discussed regional issues on Wednesday, according to US State Department.

Pompeo and Rama discussed shared priorities during Albania's 2020 Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, State Department's Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

Pompeo highlighted strong US support for Albania's bid to join the European Union (EU) and for on-going judicial and electoral reform efforts, the statement added.

France, along with several other EU members, rejected Albania from moving forward with their membership bids last year. The European Parliament (EP) President David Sassoli said earlier this week that EP strongly supports the opening of accession talks of Albania with the EU.