The President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, on the second day of her visit to Calabria, met with the president of the Region of Calabria Roberto Occhiuto, with whom she discussed the further expansion of cooperation between the Republic of Kosovo and the Region of Calabria.
The President pointed out that the care for the rights of ethnic communities actively contributes to the economic development of Italy. She thanked President Occhiuto for looking after the preservation of the national identity of the Arbëresh people and emphasized that their complete integration and contribution to socio-economic life give relations a different and special dimension. She presented the example of Kosovo in the protection of minorities and emphasized that the more the Arbëresh community is supported in preserving its cultural and linguistic identity, the more this community will contribute to the development of relations between Italy and the Albanian areas.
“We are convinced that active policies can be pursued to respect minority languages, to protect and improve the language and cultural heritage of the linguistic and historical minorities of Calabria, including the Arbëresh community. The further improvement of the policies for the preservation and promotion of the language and traditions is related to the policies of education in the language of the minorities,” said President Osmani.
Madam President added that in the Calabria Region, an important part of our cultural heritage, inclusive of the literary one, is traditionally nurtured and is found in documents and magazines of great importance to the Albanian people, which must be preserved and digitized so that they can be more easily distributed to young people and to the future generations.
President Osmani and Regional President Occhiuto also discussed the possibilities of expanding the economic cooperation between Kosovo and Italy, including the region of Calabria. Madam President invited Italian enterprises, businesses and investors to invest in the strategic sectors of our country’s economy.
“We need to bring our economic and tourist operators even closer so that common tourist itineraries from Calabria to Kosovo and vice versa can be established,” said President Osmani. The opening of direct flights between our airports helps mutual tourism and the expansion of ties with Calabria and with the citizens of the region.
The possibility of cooperation in agriculture was also discussed at the meeting, given that both countries have great development potential in this field.
President Osmani and President Occhiuto also touched on bringing young people closer to each other’s culture and increasing communication between our two countries, especially our young people.
“The intensification of the cooperation of our young people can be best achieved through the increase of academic exchanges, scholarships and inter-university cooperation,” said President Osmani.
