Mayor Erion Veliaj said in his remarks at the event that an important year is drawing to its close, yet another equally important year is about to begin as the Albanian capital has been picked as the European Sports Capital.

Veliaj said that Tirana and Albania are at the best of times “and the current accomplishments are the result of what we have been dreaming about many years ago to turn Tirana and Albania into the centre of European development.”

“We dreamed about Albania becoming a member of the UN Security Council and Albania is now there. We dreamed about Albania becoming a progressive and prosperous country and here we are, it was just two days ago when Albania and Tirana became Europe’s epicentre, the big house hosting the EU-Western Balkans Summit,” Tirana Mayor said.

He also noted that Tirana also became the centre of one of the most important sports events, hosting the UEFA Conference League final this year.

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Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj hosted the mayor of the Spanish city of Fuenlabrada, Francisco Javier Ayala Ortega (one of the finalists), focusing on the progress of the Year of Youth in Tirana.

“Fuenlabrada is one of the potential candidates to be declared as the European Youth Capital and I would like to wish every success to this city. It doesn’t matter who wins, as experience has shown that when there is readiness to do things one can deliver on wonderful projects. I strongly believe that sometimes such event like the title awarding ceremony in Tirana for the next European Youth capital for 2025 are also reasons to meet each other and build contacts,” Veliaj said.

Veliaj said that 2022, when Tirana held the title European Youth Capital, was an excellent way to create connections between the youth of Albania and their peer all over Europe.

The mayor of Fuenlabrada, Francisco Javier Ayala Ortega, expressed his pleasure for meeting with the mayor of the current European Youth Capital to learn from his experience in organizing this activity.

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