Fredi Beleri

A temporary lull in Greek-Albanian diplomatic tensions has arisen ahead of the Greek elections after interventions from Washington, Berlin and Brussels.

Diplomatic tensions rose between Athens and Tirana after the arrest and imprisonment of the newly elected ethnic Greek mayor of Himare, Fredi Beleri, just two days before local elections in the neighboring country.

Athens hosted an art exhibition a couple of months ago at its iconic Zappeion Hall venue where Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was able to express his creative side. Late last year, Kyriakos Mitsotakis paid an official visit to Himare, becoming the first Greek prime minister to visit one of the main ethnic Greek towns in Albania in 30 years.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the Athens suburb of Zografou on Monday, where he sent a stern message that Albania's European prospects are entirely dependent on it respecting the rights of the Greek ethnic minority in that country.

The Socialist Party led by Prime Minister Edi Rama is ahead in most municipalities in the country after Sunday's local elections and has already won three, Kamza, Vora and Elbasan, where the voting took place electronically and the Central Election Commission was able to declare the results a few hours after polls closed.

Fredi Beleri, the candidate representing the Greek minority, emerged victorious over his opponent Jorgo Goro, who had the backing of the Edi Rama government, in the race for the mayor of Himara in Albania's local elections.

The official results were announced Monday after an earlier interruption in the vote counting process.

A court in Albania decided on Saturday to detain until his trial an ethnic Greek mayoral candidate in the southern Albanian municipality of Himara, Fredi Beleri, after he was charged with vote-buying.

A crisis in relations between Athens and Tirana has been sparked by the arrest of the candidate for mayor of Himare, Greek expatriate Dionysis-Fredi Beleri, two days before the municipal elections in the neighboring country.

A Greek expatriate mayoral candidate in the southern Albanian municipality of Himara, Fredi Beleri, was arrested at midnight on Thursday by the Albanian police outside his business premises on suspicion of paying people for their votes, causing strong condemnation from officials in Athens.