Bularat

There were tensions at the Greek-Albanian border on Saturday when Albanian authorities stopped Greek citizens trying to enter the country to attend a memorial service for Konstantinos Katsifas, the 35-year-old ethnic Greek man who was fatally injured by Albanian police in an exchange of fire in late October in the village of Bularat.

Albanian police say a Greek policeman has been arrested after he was found with a pistol.

A statement Saturday said that 98 other Greeks were denied entry to the country due to a lack of documentation or being on a list of banned persons.

There were tensions at the Greek-Albanian border on Saturday morning when Albanian authorities reportedly stopped Greek citizens trying to enter the country to attend a memorial service for an ethnic Greek man, Konstantinos Katsifas, who was fatally injured by Albanian police in an exchange of fire in late October in the village of Bularat.

The European Parliament is calling for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Konstantinos Katsifas, a 35-year-old ethnic Greek man who was fatally shot by Albanian authorities in the southern village of Bularat at the end of last month in what was described by Albanian authorities as an exchange of fire.

Albania said Friday that 52 Greek nationals who turned out for the funeral of a dual Albanian-Greek citizen who was fatally shot in a gun battle with Albanian police during an annual celebration are considered "personae non gratae" and would not be allowed to enter the country again.

Twelve Greeks detained on Thursday by Albanian authorities at a police station in the town of Gjirokaster before the funeral of an ethnic Greek were released early Friday morning, state-run news agency ANA-MPA said.

Several hundred Greeks, some of them holding anti-Albanian and anti-Macedonian insignia, attended the funeral of Kostandinos Kacifa on Thursday in the village of Bularat in southern Albania, hailing him a national hero.

Media reported that several buses and other vehicles traveled from different towns and cities in Greece across the border to Albania.

Hundreds of Greeks have turned out for the funeral of a dual Albanian-Greek citizen who was fatally shot in a gun battle with Albanian police during an annual celebration.

The funeral of an ethnic Greek who was shot dead by Albanian police last week got underway at the village of Bularat in southern Albania, with numerous people travelling from Greece in busses to attend the service.

The death of 35-year-old Konstantinos Katsifas has flared up tensions between Tirana and Athens.

Two Greeks have reportedly been arrested in Albania for the possession of clothes sporting paramilitary symbols and slogans that fuel hate, according to Albanian news portal Faxweb.

The news comes a few hours before the funeral of 35-year-old Konstantinos Katsifas in the village of Bularat in southern Albania, who was shot dead by Albanian police last week.