Greece's Foreign Ministry

Greece's Foreign Ministry condemned Albania's decision to declare invalid the mandate of ethnic Greek Fredi Beleri as mayor of the the southern Albanian region of Himare, calling it a "pre-ordained outcome" fraught with legal issues. 

Greece's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday regarding an Albanian court's decision to reject an appeal by Fredi Beleri, an ethnic Greek elected mayor of Himara and more recently in the European Parliament, who will have to remain in prison until October.

Gordana Siljanovska was inaugurated as North Macedonia's president in a parliamentary session, where she referred to the country as "Macedonia," diverging from the official "North Macedonia" designation.

Greek Ambassador Sofia Philippidou left the session in protest, in line with Greece's Foreign Ministry directive.

It's been more than a year of calm waters between Greece and Turkey and suddenly tensions seemed to have flared up again.

Earlier this week, Turkey hit out at Greece for its plans to declare two marine parks in the Aegean and the Ionian seas ahead of the Our Oceans Conference taking place in Athens next week.

I won't get into the discussion of whether putting Fredi Beleri's name on the New Democracy ticket for the upcoming European elections would serve the ruling Greek conservative party's interests; it would, in spades.

The conviction by an Albanian court of the elected mayor of Himare "heightens the concerns raised about the objectivity of the process," Greece's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, after an ethnic Greek was sentenced to two years in prison for buying votes.

Greece's Foreign Ministry said the country remains "determined to continue to support Ukraine" in its just fight for its independence, two years after Russia's invasion.

Greece's Foreign Ministry appointed Ekaterini Nassika as the country's new ambassador to Washington and Theodoros Bizakis as new envoy to Ankara, it was announced on Thursday.

Nassika previous post was ambassador to the Russian Federation, while Bizakis was Minister Counselor-Deputy Chief of Mission at the Greek embassy in Washington. 

For Greece, the resolution of the Cyprus issue constitutes "a top national priority," Greece's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday, to mark the 49th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of 20 July 1974.

The detention of a mayoral candidate belonging to the Greek minority in Albania has raised tensions between the two neighboring countries.

Greece's Foreign Ministry released a statement Saturday demanding the release of Dionysis-Fredi Beleri, a candidate for mayor of the Albanian city of Himare, which has a strong Greek minority presence.