Katsifas funeral to be held on Thursday; authorities on alert

The funeral of Konstantinos Katsifas, a 35-year-old ethnic Greek fatally shot by Albanian police on October 28, will take place on Thursday in the village of Bularat in southern Albania, after authorities handed his body over to his family on Wednesday.

Athens and ethnic Greek authorities are reportedly concerned that extremists may seek to hijack the funeral, placing a further strain on Greek-Albanian relations.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened at border crossings into Albania to monitor the movement of dozens of buses carrying people from various parts of Greece seeking to attend the sevice.

Katsifas's death has taxed relations between the two countries.