The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, at the start of his two-day visit to Paris, met his counterpart, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. Veliaj praised the work done by Mayor Hidalgo for the success of the Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris this year.

During the meeting with Mayor Hidalgo, Mayor Veliaj found the opportunity to share the good news of the restoration of “Skanderbeg” square in the French capital, as a sign of the strong ties that exist between our two peoples, at the moment when Albania aims to integrate into the European Union.

“Paris is ready for the Olympic Games and the president Anne Hidalgo has done a fantastic job of hosting the whole team. Of course, the Albanian team is among the first teams because it also opens the Olympic Games alphabetically.

We can’t wait for our Olympic team to shine in this cooperation between Paris and Tirana. The best news is that we have a “Skanderbeg” square in Paris and finally, the square has been completely restored. We are ready to have a Skanderbeg monument in Paris, which has been a dream of many Albanians and a strong bond between our peoples. When we dreamed of Europe, when we were in Europe and now that we are integrating in Europe, the Skanderbeg statue in Paris is one of the best news we received from this visit”, said Veliaj.

For her part, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo expressed enthusiasm for the meeting with Mayor Veliaj, stressing that he is welcome at any time in the French capital.

The visit of the head of the Municipality, Erion Veliaj to Paris takes place in the wake of strengthening the cooperation between the two capitals and the special relationship with the Paris Municipality.

In February of this year, Veliaj welcomed in Tirana the vice-mayor of the Paris Municipality, Anouch Toranian, to whom he symbolically presented the “Tirana Clock” and talked about the increase of cooperation between the two cities. Another indicator of the mutual ties between the two countries was the signing a few days ago of a cooperation agreement in the digital and innovation field with the French embassy, ​​which according to Mayor Veliaj will bring a new spirit and energy in terms of cooperation between Tirana and Paris.