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Environmentalists oppose the inclusion of the German city in Vlora airport

Politiko 2025-02-17 15:02:21

Environmentalists oppose the inclusion of the German city in Vlora airport

The Munich City Council, a shareholder in Munich Airport, will decide tomorrow regarding a petition sent by German environmental organizations to stop supporting the Vlora airport project.

"The City of Munich, the Free State of Bavaria and the Federal Republic of Germany must take the appropriate steps and withdraw completely from this project," said Gabriel Schwaderer, executive director of the environmental organization EuroNatur.

Environmental organizations claimed that the company that operates Munich Airport (Flughafen Munchen Gmbh) is acting as a consulting company in the Vlora Airport project.

The Vlora Airport, which is being built in the Akërnia field near the Nartë-Vjosa Protected Area, continues construction despite calls from environmental activists to stop the project, which endangers the continuity of species in this protected landscape, but also the safety of potential flights.

The Bern Convention, the European Parliament, and the European Commission have criticized this initiative by the Albanian government to build an airport within the protected area.

The petition by environmental organizations EuroNatur and Bund Naturschutz is addressed to Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter, asking him to advocate and speak to the supervisory board of the company "Flughafen Munchen Gmbh" to withdraw from the Vlora Airport project.

"The agenda of the meeting of the committee responsible for the city's economy recommended rejecting the petition," says Christian Hierneis, head of BUND Naturschutz Munich, an environmental NGO.

"The city of Munich has 23% of the shares of Munich Airport, it cannot avoid responsibility. Even though Albania is far away, this does not mean that they should turn a blind eye to the destruction of nature," Hiernes continued.

Martin Geilhufe from BUND Naturschutz also admitted that experts from this organization have closely visited the works in the protected area in 2023.

"We have seen up close on the ground the flocks of flamingos that live in the Narta lagoon," said Geilhufe from BUND Naturschutz, adding that if this airport becomes operational, planes would fly right through the protected area.

“We call on the Albanian government to stop this environmentally harmful, and in our opinion also illegal, project,” concluded Gabriel Schwaderer, executive director of the international environmental organization EuroNatur./ BIRN

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