TIRANA, Feb 28 /ATA/ The mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, said on Monday that Albanian citizens are expressing solidarity with Ukraine and very soon the capital will send humanitarian aid to Kiev.
In his address to the launch event of the regional project “Developers and Young Entrepreneurs for the Advancement of Startup Businesses in the Western Balkans”, Veliaj recalled that two months ago he met with his Ukrainian counterpart, the Mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko. “Other than sharing similar challenges, what distinguishes us from them is good neighbourly relations,” Veliaj said.
“Before the New Year, I had the opportunity to meet the mayor of Kiev, who spoke to me about the challenge of coping with public transport or the water issue, about the expansion of Kiev with new neighbourhoods. They sounded to me just like our challenges. We also talked about the issue of waste, how sometimes they had to be incinerated, and sometimes to be disposed of. Who lived in Tirana last month saw that this was the hot potato here. So apparently we were talking about exactly the same problems, except for one detail related to who your neighbour was, as you address these problems. “I believe that this OSCE forum today, more than anything else, is a reminder of how important it is to have a neighbour who helps you in your ambitions, in your dreams, who works with you,” Veliaj said.
Albania, said Veliaj, is truly blessed to border two European Union countries, Italy and Greece.
He said that humanitarian aid will soon be delivered to Kiev. “We as a city are involved in this spirit of solidarity, I believe you saw today the flags on public buses or activities organized by many young people during this weekend, so tomorrow we will hold an official meeting with the Embassy of Ukraine in Tirana to make sure that our municipality can help with humanitarian aid such as blankets, clothing or foodstuffs. We will play our modest part, so I invite everyone to do their part, “Veliaj concluded his speech.
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