Edi Rama

The message from Athens to Tirana in Greek Ambassador Konstantina Kamitsi's statements to the Albanian press by was clear: The ongoing detainment of the ethnic Greek mayor-elect of Himare in Albania will be a thorn in the side of Greek-Albanian relations for some time to come.

The mayor-elect of the predominantly ethnic Greek city of Himare in southern Albania lashed out against the country's Prime Minister Edi Rama after authorities refused to grant him leave from pretrial detention to take his mayoral oath.

The swearing-in ceremony for the elected mayor of Himare in Albania, Fredi Beleri, is scheduled for Tuesday but cannot take place while he still remains in custody.

According to Albanian legislation a deputy mayor, appointed by a council of ministers controlled by the ruling Socialist Party, will have to take office.

The former chief negotiator of the so-called Kosovo in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Edita Tahiri characterized the draft of the CSM proposed by the Prime Minister of Albania as biased.
According to her, Edi Rama lost his credibility on the so-called Kosovo because he supports Serbia and is close to the President of Serbia, writes the Pristina press Kosovo online.

Albania's Council of Ministers on Friday backed a draft law potentially legalising the use of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes.

Minister of Health Ogerta Manastirliu said that an agency that would control the process was about to be established.

The cancellation of a joint meeting between the two governments due to the tense situation in Kosovo's Serb-majority north has further damaged already frayed relations between Albin Kurti and Edi Rama.

Speaking about the proposal for the Draft Statute of the CSM that Edi Rama sent to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that the Albanian Prime Minister should propose something like this to President Aleksandar Vui for the Albanians in Preevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, reports Reporters.

The founder of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, Duan Janji, said that the Draft Statute of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, which Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama sent to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, was an attempt to prevent a disaster for Kosovo Albanians, so that, as he said, they would not fall out of favor with the USA, reports RTV.

Controversial Venture

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban (L) and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. EPA-EFE/Szilard Koszticsak

"It's not an appeal, but a necessity," Rama wrote on Twitter last night.
He added that he considers the "blind aggressors" directly responsible for the injuries of the KFOR soldiers.
"Unfortunately, this harms Kosovo in the eyes of its irreplaceable allies and friends. The longer this dangerous and unnecessary conflict lasts, the more it harms Kosovo," said Rama.