Tirana

According to "Reporters", his deputy Besnik Bislimi will go in his place.
An informal meeting of regional leaders is being held in Tirana, which is attended by European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Oliver Varhelyi.

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.

Dublin-based low-cost giant Ryanair recently announced it was adding Albania to its roster for the first time as its 37th country destination, with new flights from Edinburgh, London Stansted and Manchester, alongside a host of European cities.

Kathimerini, being a prestigious newspaper, deserves praise for consistently bringing attention to the issue of Albania's treatment of its ethnic Greek minority, who primarily live in the south of the Balkan country. Here, however, I will switch roles. I will step into the position of an Albanian official in Tirana, responsible for monitoring developments in Greece.

The low-cost airline "Wizz Air" announced that it is launching a new direct route from Sofia to the Albanian capital Tirana. The flights will start from December 18, with three flights per week. The cheapest one-way ticket can currently be bought for 196 leva (around 100 euros) - without luggage.

The continued pretrial detention of ethnic Greek mayor-elect Fredi Beleri by the Albanian authorities is not consistent with the rule of law, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Fredi Beleri, the ethnic Greek mayor-elect of Himare, was transferred to the Tirana prison hospital on Monday, after he felt unwell due to heart-related health problems.

It is the second time that Beleri has shown these symptoms in the last two days and he will undergo specific tests, according to press reports.

Skënder Gjinushi, (left) and Edi Rama on a conference about the 50th anniversary of the Congress of Language in Tirana on 10 November 2022. Photo: LSA

The extension of the detention of Fredi Beleri, the recently elected ethnic Greece mayor of Himare in Albania, "is contrary to the common sense of justice and the European concept of the rule of law," the Greek Foreign Ministry underlined in a statement on Monday.