“It is a special pleasure to have in the city Tomas Venclova, one of the greatest poets, but also a dissident, or Lithuania’s Kadare. I am very glad that in these troubled times, in these times of conflicts, when the old empires are rekindling their lust, especially with the war raging on in Europe, we need clear voices, for those who fought, survived, won, to give us hope that no occupation lasts forever; no dictatorial madness lasts forever and no closure and isolation lasts forever”, said Veliaj.

For the mayor, today the capital is an example of a radical transformation and a city open to the world, in contrast to the period when the Lithuanian poet visited it for the first time. “There are always positive forces and energy to open up countries, to produce freedom and as someone who knows Albania very well and has come over the years, I am very happy today that he finds Tirana not only big and clean, but also a city that is open to the world. Unlike the days of isolation when you came here, today we have a completely different city. From the most isolated country, we welcome 10 million tourists and maybe more this year,” he said.
For his part, the Lithuanian poet Tomas Venclova said that the Albanian capital has changed tremendously. “I remember the visit at that time, in Tirana in the 90s, it was something completely different. I remember this building, I remember the Mosque, the “Skënderbej” square, but it seems that there been extraordinary developments since that time”, said Venclova

Tomas Venclova is considered one of the most important Eastern European poets of the 20th century. He is one of the 5 founders of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group. For all those interested, a 100-minute documentary dedicated to the life of Tomas Venclova is being shown in the premises of the former “Agimi” cinema, which will evoke nostalgia, but also inspiration for the new generation, which aims to engage in politics and in active life as well as to convey the message that history often repeats itself./a.f/sm/