Ina Zhupa against the plan to merge Delvina and Konispol: They cannot become neighborhoods of Saranda

2026-07-19 11:58:00, Aktualitet CNA

Ina Zhupa against the plan to merge Delvina and Konispol: They cannot become

Democratic Party MP Ina Zhupa has reacted against the plan published in the media for the new territorial reform envisaged by the Socialist Party, which envisages the merger of the municipalities of Delvina and Konispol with the Municipality of Saranda. Zhupa describes this as another step towards centralization and depopulation of the south, emphasizing that it is not an administrative reform, but the removal of representation and services for citizens.

According to Zhupa, Delvina and Konispoli are part of history, identity and national heritage and should not disappear as municipalities. She calls on the citizens of both areas, regardless of political beliefs, to oppose any plan for their merger with the Municipality of Saranda.

"Delvina and Konispoli should not disappear as municipalities. The majority that took away their institutions and economic development has no right to remove their name from the map of Albania."

This is not administrative reform. This is depopulation policy turned into law.

Removing the status of municipalities is not reform. It is centralization. It is the removal of services from citizens, the weakening of local representation, and the abandonment of areas that need more investment, not less voice.

After institutions were closed, after state offices were removed, after services were removed, after thousands of young people were forced to emigrate due to lack of opportunities, now the government has found the "solution": to also remove the status of municipalities for Delvina and Konispol.

Delvina and Konispoli are not just municipalities on the map. They are part of the identity, history and heritage of Albania.

Therefore, we are against any plan to merge them as municipalities and unite them with the Municipality of Saranda.

Delvina is one of the oldest historical centers of the country, with an important role in the national history, education, culture and spiritual life of Albania. It has been an administrative and economic center of the province for centuries, with prominent patriotic traditions and a rich cultural heritage that cannot be reduced to a “subunit” of another municipality.

Konispoli is the southernmost city of Albania and an area of ??particular strategic, border, historical and national importance. It also represents the traditions of Chameria, preserves an extraordinary archaeological, cultural and ethnographic heritage and has specific needs that require decision-making close to the citizens, not from miles away.

"I invite every citizen of Delvina and Konispol to oppose it regardless of political beliefs. I call on the socialist deputies of the Vlora district to oppose, not vote and not accept this plan against the citizens," Zhupa emphasizes./ CNA