Albanian PM shocked over Greek elected officials protesting in Himare

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has sought to defuse recent tensions between Tirana and Athens while also condemning a protest led by Greek politicians in Himare, southern Albania, over the arrest of a Greek minority mayor for alleged vote buying.

Two days before the 14 May 2023 local elections, Albanian citizen Fredi Beleri, an ethnic Greek mayoral candidate for the region of Himare, was arrested on suspicion of buying votes. He went on to win the election but has remained in prison awaiting trial, along with 48 other individuals suspected of similar crimes.

But the news did not sit well with Athens, which said Beleri was arrested because of his Greek ethnicity and the affair was politically motivated.

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On 14 August, a protest was organised in Himare by the Greek minority organisation ‘Omonoia’, attended by the mayors of Athens and Thessaloniki, Kostas Bakoyannis and Konstantinos Zervas. A pre-recorded message from European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas was also played.

Schinas, who is also Greek, urged Albanian to abandon what he described as an unproductive strategy which hinders the country’s path to the EU. He also called it a “deeply un-European” situation.

Mayor Bakoyannis also said that if Albania wants to join the EU, it must uphold the rule of law and European principles while his Thessaloniki counterpart Zervas said he had sent letters about the situation to mayors worldwide, stating that Beleri’s incarceration threatened democracy and the rights of the Greek minority.

Rama reacted to the protest in a lengthy Facebook post. “There is no other case, to the best of my knowledge, where the elected officials of a democratic state organise a protest in another democratic state against the authorities.”

While Beleri has Greek nationality, Rama continued, he is also an Albanian citizen and will be treated like the other 48 Albanian nationals, including former mayors from the Socialist Party Rama heads, who face similar charges.

According to evidence leaked to Albanian media, wiretapping revealed Beleri was provided with a list of names of people who would vote for him if he gave them 5,000 Lek (€50).

Beleri maintains his innocence and has appealed against the arrest.

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Rama noted that according to the decision of all three levels of the judiciary, Beleri cannot leave detention until the process against him is finalised.

Albania is amid a US- and EU-backed justice reform, which put in place the vetting of all prosecutors and judges for reputation, wealth and professionalism. It has also seen the establishment of specialist structures to deal with corruption – a crucial part of its EU negotiations, which started last summer.

Rama also criticised Schinas, who suggested in a letter to EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi that Beleri’s arrest could hinder Albania’s EU path. This follows similar threats from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mistotakis and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.

“I cannot hide my deepest sorry in the face of the surreal intervention of the Greek side in the matter of Albanian justice, the statements in Athens and the whinging in Brussels,” Rama wrote, stressing once again that the process was about possible electoral crimes and had nothing to do with Greek minority rights.

Some 0.9% of the population in Albania identify as ethnic Greeks, although this is controversial in some political circles. While several communities in the south of the country speak Greek and some roadsigns appear in the Greek language, Albanian nationalists say they simply identify as Greek to get Greek (and de facto EU) passports and money from Athens, something the local communities vehemently deny.

Rama said Greeks are welcome to protest in Albania and Greek media are welcome to write about the situation, but they should be prepared to consider Tirana’s side of the story.

He also listed the actions taken by his government in support of the Greek minority, including providing the same rights for Greeks as Albanians, allowing them to freely elect Greek representatives in local government, the Greek flag flying freely in Greek areas, and the mass legalisation of illegally built homes owned by Greek families.

He also noted property titles given to Greek Orthodox churches and religious sites after decades of being denied.

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Despite the current situation, Rama said he has “very friendly feelings” towards Mitsotakis and noted the “extraordinary progress” made in recent years “to cultivate a genuinely European spirit between us and melt away the glaciers of our icy past”.

The incident comes just months after Mitsotakis cancelled a trip to Himare the day before an EU-Western Balkan summit in Tirana after Rama told EURACTIV in an interview that Greece cheated on its EU accession process.

The comments went viral across Greece, and the Albanian prime minister addressed the issue during a bilateral meeting at the EU-Western Balkan Summit in Tirana.

It also takes place in the context of a protracted disagreement on maritime borders set to be decided by an international tribunal.

In an interview with EURACTIV in December 2022, Sali Berisha – considered closer to Athens – revealed that Ankara, a long-time foe of Athens, made a “really strong intervention” to block a maritime border agreement between Albania and Greece in 2009.

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In his post, Rama expressed hope that the current situation will not escalate, “refuelling the fire of nationalism” and risking good relations between two nations who are “brothers and sisters, with whom the future unites us inextricably.”

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]