Belgrade, 18 August 2021 (MIA) - Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia are the first European countries to say they’ll provide temporary shelter for Afghans bound for the U.S. after fleeing the Taliban conquest of their country, Brussels-based publication Politico wrote on Wednesday. Most are civilians who worked with U.S. or international missions in Afghanistan and are being evacuated to the Continent as they await U.S. visas, according to media reports. Student dorms have been vacated for the Afghans coming to Albania, while North Macedonia has announced that resorts and hotels will be made available. Kosovo said it has the capacity to receive up to 10,000 people. The first refugees are due to arrive in Albania on Wednesday. The three countries, Politico underlined, are among the poorest in Europe, and all three are hoping to eventually join the European Union — although there are still significant obstacles before that happens. That’s one of the reasons they are leaning heavily on their relationship with the United States. “These three are the most pro-American countries in Europe, possibly in the world, both in terms of popular sentiment and the alignment of the political class regardless of the administration that’s in power in the U.S.,” said Toby Vogel, an analyst at the Democratization Policy Council, a Berlin-based think-tank. “They will do a lot to accommodate whatever demands the U.S. might have.” For North Macedonia, this is also a way to show it takes NATO membership seriously and also to gain diplomatic leverage to unblock its EU accession talks, read the article. All 27 EU countries, it added, agreed to launch joint membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania in March 2020. But Bulgaria lodged a veto against North Macedonia’s membership until the latter admits its language is derived from Bulgarian and adapts its history textbooks to reflect a stronger Bulgarian presence. “Appreciation for the United States is extremely high considering how disappointed and angry people are at the EU. People think that the U.S. is the country’s key strategic partner,” said Predrag Arsovski, a Macedonian commentator and columnist. “The entire region is expecting a sea change from the current U.S. administration compared to the Trump administration. They expect Biden to be much more involved. This is why they want to cash in their chips early,” he said.