Himare
EU: Bilateral disputes should not delay accession process
The European Commission hopes Northern Macedonia will begin accession talks with the EU the soonest possible and, referring to bilateral disputes between Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria, as well as Albania and Greece, reiterated its position that bilateral disputes should not delay the accession process.
Campaigning for Euro elections resumes after Easter break
After the Easter respite, party leaders resume their pre-election campaigns on Tuesday, as we enter the last stretch before the European Parliament elections.
On the diplomatic front, the government in Athens is preparing for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' planned visit to Ankara next Monday, where he will be meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Greek MEP decries ‘baseless’ incarceration of Himare mayor-elect
The conviction by the Albanian authorities of Himare mayor-elect Fredi Beleri is "flimsy and baseless," the chairman of the EU-Albania Joint Parliamentary Stabilization and Association Committee and New Democracy MEP Manolis Kefalogiannis reiterated on Monday after visiting the jailed ethnic-Greek politician.
Double standards
New Democracy's decision to nominate Fredi Beleri, the imprisoned mayor of Himare, as a candidate for the European Parliament aims to highlight Albania's violation of the rule of law as a European concern. Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis made this clear on Wednesday, while also condemning attempts to monopolize these "progressive" issues.
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Greek foreign minister urges European focus on Beleri case
Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said on Wednesday that the case of Fredi Beleri, a mayor from Albania's Greek minority who was recently sentenced to two years in prison for buying votes, should be viewed as a European concern rather than a bilateral issue between the two Balkan neighbors.
Albanian prosecutors order arrest of Himare mayor for alleged corruption
Albanian prosecutors said Saturday they ordered the arrest of the mayor of a seaside tourist town in the country's south on corruption charges.
What comes after the conviction?
Things are judged by results, and in the case of Fredi Beleri, things have not gone at all well. The mayor-elect of the predominantly ethnic Greek town of Himare in southern Albania is to remain in prison until September 12, 2024. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's goal is for the appeal trial to be finished by September too, so that Beleri can be convicted once and for all and disqualified.
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Rama appoints ethnic Greek as Vlora prefect
Albania's council of ministers, headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, appointed on Wednesday Vangjel Tavo as prefect of the Vlora district, in Albania's south, in a move seen as an effort by Rama to diffuse tensions with Greece, caused by the conviction of the elected mayor of Himare for vote buying.
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PM: Beleri case clouds relations with Albania
Tirana's handling of the case of Fredi Beleri, the ethnic Greek elected mayor of Himare in southern Albania, has adversely impacted bilateral relations with Greece, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Skai TV in an interview on Tuesday.
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Albanian rule of law questioned over Beleri conviction
Following the Tuesday conviction of ethnic Greek mayor Fredi Beleri in Albania over alleged vote-buying, sources from within the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday expressed their concern over the rule of law in Albania and the objectivity of its justice system.