“Friends of Vlora”: A bridge to unite the city’s best voices in the face of the walls erected by division

2025-07-23 11:04:00, Opinione Ardi Stefa

“Friends of Vlora”: A bridge to unite the city’s best voices

Politics is often divisive and public decision-making is perceived as a monopoly of a few hands.

For this reason, Mayor Dredha's initiative to create the "Friends of Vlora" Consultative Council is good news and an innovation that deserves wide attention and support. Conceived as a roundtable of minds, representatives from the public, cultural, academic, economic and social worlds, inside and outside Albania, this forum aims to create bridges between the city and those who have an emotional, professional or historical connection with Vlora.

The name “Friends of Vlora” is not just symbolic. It embodies a spirit of cooperation that transcends party differences and personal interests. It is an informal structure but with public weight, which will feed the local government with ideas, advice and concrete proposals for urban development, tourism, culture, heritage, education, infrastructure and entrepreneurship. More than a formal body, this council is a space for those who want to give, without asking for anything in return, except the opportunity to see Vlora flourish.

Precisely for this reason, the stance of the opposition in the Municipal Council, which voted in favor of this initiative by Ermal Dredha, should also be welcomed.

At a time when clashes in the City Council and more broadly in Vlora have been permanent and more common than consensus, this gesture is a healthy political signal that should be appreciated: when there are good ideas for the city, we should all be together.

Supporting the opposition is not just an expression of goodwill, but an example to follow: politics must know how to give up protagonism when the common interest is at the center.

Instead of the usual narratives of division, I personally hope that “Friends of Vlorës” will offer a new narrative: unity.

Instead of exclusion, inclusion.

Instead of the silence of those who have something to say, an invitation to speak.

I have faith and hope that it is a sincere, open and unbiased invitation, which is addressed to everyone: academics, artists, doctors, entrepreneurs, young and old who want to contribute.

Vlora is not built by the municipality alone. It is built first and foremost by the people of Vlora, by those who love it, and by everyone who has the heart, mind, and time to make it better.

In this spirit, support for this initiative is not a political luxury, but a civic obligation.

And if there is one message that needs to be repeated, it is this: Vlora does not need more division, but more friends.

And friends who know how to get along.