Tirana officially took over the Presidency of the largest Network of Balkan cities, B-40. At the summit held in the capital, where mayors and delegations from 54 Balkan cities participated, the head of the Municipality of Tirana, Erion Veliaj said that it is time for cooperation like never before.
“I believe that today we are in the right place where the cornerstone is exactly cooperation, receiving and giving to each other. We are open-hearted for friends like you, ready to welcome you, to give you the best part of our culture and hospitality, and it is time for an extraordinary cooperation between us like never before”, said the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj.
Enthusiastic about the fact that Tirana has the Presidency of B40 this year, he pointed out the extraordinary transformation of the Albanian capital, not only for architecture and technology, but also as a European city.
“I am glad that Frederica is with us today, the rector of the College of Europe, which has just opened the applications for the Tirana Campus, and as she herself will tell you, Tirana has become a success story, even before the campus has started, where we have over 200 applications from over 50 different European countries. An excellent opportunity for our municipalities to take advantage of and we will probably have some of your qualified staff who receive a more complementary academic training to be those “Eurocrats” who will prepare our municipalities for more integration and cooperation. In 2025, Tirana will be the Mediterranean Capital of Culture, and culture is perhaps the only invisible thread that connects nations where politics may divide them, where ethnic differences may separate them”, said the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj.
The mayor also proposed to have a solidarity fund for all the municipalities of our region in case of disasters. As he added that on this platform of B40 in Tirana, talk more about smart cities and the digital transformation of cities, and about the local economy and cultural cooperation, to see cities as engines of the economy.
Source: Euro News Albania