Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports, Blendi Gonxhja, held a meeting with the Mayor of Asti and head of the province, Maurizio Rasero, during his visit to Milan — a meeting he described as a pleasant surprise and a new opportunity for cooperation.

Asti, one of the Italian municipalities with the largest Albanian community in the Piedmont region, is home to more than 4,000 Albanians who have settled there for decades.

Mayor Rasero praised the excellent cultural and social integration of the Albanian community and expressed his interest in hosting an official visit by Minister Gonxhja to strengthen ties between the two countries and their communities, while also promoting the values and traditions of Asti.

Minister Gonxhja recalled that Asti holds a special place in Albanian history, as it was among the first Italian cities to open its doors to thousands of Albanians during the 1991 exodus. Since then, the Albanian community has become an integral part of the city’s social, cultural, and economic life, led today by a mayor from Forza Italia.

He added that through the new CulturAlb program and ongoing initiatives of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports, Albania aims to be even closer to Albanian diasporas in Italy and beyond — through joint cultural projects and events that preserve Albanian historical and cultural roots.