EU calls Albania to uphold ‘due process’ after ethnic Greek mayor convicted for vote buying

The European Commission has called on Albania to ensure due process is upheld following the sentencing of Fredi Beleri, an opposition candidate from the Greek minority who won the elections in the southern municipality of Himara, to prison for vote buying which has led to heightened tensions between Tirana and Athens.

Earlier this week, Beleri, an ethnic Greek who won the 2023 local election but was prevented from swearing in due to being imprisoned awaiting trial, will now serve two years in prison. He has denied all allegations, accused the courts of being politicised, and his lawyers say they intend to appeal.

His arrest two days before the elections on suspicion of buying four votes caused tensions between Athens and Tirana, with Greece threatening to veto Albania’s EU accession unless all charges were dropped and Beleri was allowed to take the oath to become mayor.

Contacted by Euractiv, an EU spokesperson commented:

“We continue to follow the developments. We do not comment on ongoing judicial proceedings and call on ensuring that due process is upheld”.

Beleri won the election in Himara, home to an ethnic Greek minority, by a handful of votes, but a number of appeals to let him take the oath or downgrade his ‘arrest in prison’ to ‘house arrest’ were refused by the court.

Beleri has said he will now take the case to the EU courts.

Athens has repeatedly called on Albania to allow him to take the oath, calling it politically and ethnically motivated. The Albanian government has said it cannot interfere in judicial proceedings, and the justice system must be allowed to take its course.

Read more: Greece pressures Albania to show ‘way out’ of bilateral crisis

Critics in Athens have said there is a business motivation behind the situation, hinting the government wants to retain control of building permits issued in Himara, a popular summer destination with a lucrative real estate market.

A source from the Greek foreign ministry pointed out that the Albanian court’s decision “fuels concerns raised about the objectivity of judicial judgment”.

The source noted that during the trial, “significant contradictions emerged in the [evidence] material” and added that there was a violation of the presumption of innocence “due to outward statements and actions advocating in favour of conviction”.

“This is not a bilateral issue but a question of the rule of law, which, as EU acquis, constitutes a clear condition for the progress of the [EU] accession procedures”, the source added.

Greek Minister of State Makis Voridis took a harsher stance, saying the Beleri’s case is a reason to “freeze” Albania’s EU path.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has consistently maintained that he cannot interfere in the justice system, a recent reform backed by Athens and EU member states to make it more independent from corruption and political influence.

He also condemned Athens for trying to interfere in the domestic legal system and using the EU to exert pressure.

Since the incident last May, Greek-Albanian relations have further soured.

In August, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis decided not to invite Rama to a meeting of Western Balkan and European Commission leaders in Athens.

“Once the Balkans, always the Balkans”, Rama had told Euractiv.

In addition, at a Ukraine summit organised by Edi Rama last month, Mitsotakis did not attend, sending “representation at a low diplomatic level” instead.

This came after Rama accused Greece of ‘cheating’ on its EU accession path during an interview with Euractiv in 2022, resulting in a diplomatic crisis ahead of the Western Balkan Summit.

(Alice Taylor, Sarantis Michalopoulos | Euractiv.com)