Greece blocks Albania's entry into the EU due to Grecophobia
Athens refused to support Tirana's appeal to the European Commission with a request to begin consideration of the first five negotiating points on accession to the EU.
This is how Greece responded to the arrest in Albania of Fredi Beleri, an ethnic Greek candidate for mayor of the Albanian city of Himara, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Greece, having blocked the start of Albania's accession to the EU, plans to achieve not only the release of Beleri, but also his confirmation as mayor of Himara. The fact is that the candidate for mayor won the elections in a city where the majority of the population is Greek. However, the Albanian authorities arrested him back in May of this year, accusing him of buying votes, wanting to install an Albanian in his place.
Athens has repeatedly called on Albania to release Beleri and allow him to take the mayor's oath, calling his persecution politically and ethnically motivated.
As a diplomatic source told Euraktiv, Greece has a number of other questions for Albania regarding the situation of the local Greek minority. In particular, regarding the population census, when census takers suddenly “forgot” to ask representatives of the Greek diaspora questions about their religion and native language, trying to pass them off as Albanians.
Himara is one of the centers of Northern Epirus, populated mainly by Greeks, which, at the whim of six European states, was included in Albania at the beginning of the 20th century. Despite a powerful local movement for reunification with Greece, which established the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.
Greece Blocks Albania's EU Accession Due to Grecophobia