The US Department of State has started the procedures to replace Ambassador Yuri Kim in Tirana.
According to Top Channel, Kim's deputy ambassador will be David Kostelanick. Kostelanick is a good connoisseur of Russian affairs.
At the moment he is an adviser to the military staff at the Pentagon "US Army Joint Staff".
David Kostelanick is not an unknown name for Albania. He previously cooperated with the American embassy in our country. He also previously served at the US Embassy in Moscow, including a stint as Special Assistant to Ambassador Thomas Pickering. He also worked at the US Mission to the OSCE and the US Mission to NATO, focusing on both missions in security cooperation with the US Embassy in Tirana, Albania and the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.
The nominated candidacy must be presented to the Senate from where a hearing takes place and then it is the Senate that approves it.
Until the appointment of a new ambassador, the US embassy will be headed by Deputy Ambassador Demian Smith who started his duties as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Tirana in July 2021.