Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, met his counterpart in Canada, the mayor of Ottawa, Mark Sutcliffe, during a two-day visit.

The mayors talked about a common cultural calendar between the two cities, to further strengthen the connection between the two communities.

“The bridge that connects Ottawa with Tirana and Ottawa with Albania are human resources, it is the humanity of those who have created success stories, both in the Mediterranean and here in North America. I am really grateful and maybe, in the future, we can have a common calendar. Tirana has been the European Youth Capital for years, this year the European City of Sport. Meanwhile, next year we applied to be the Mediterranean Capital of Culture. It would be ideal if we have a common cultural calendar, where the best artists from Albania and Canada, from Tirana and Ottawa, as the two respective capitals, could exchange and strengthen this connection between people”, said Veliaj.

Also, he thanked his counterpart for the support that the latter has given to Albanians living in Ottawa.

“It was a pleasure to welcome you here and learn about Tirana. I hope you have a pleasant visit to Canada. We have a lot in common between our cities and countries and I think there is a great friendship between us. We look forward to visiting you one day in Tirana”, said Sutcliffe.