PM raises ethnic Greek mayor’s arrest with Rama

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis raised the issue of the release of the ethnic Greek mayor of Himare, Fredi Beleri, during a meeting with his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama on Tuesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius.

Mitsotakis called for the issue to be resolved immediately, stressing that there is a question of the rule of law in Albania, which, he noted, is a wider issue of concern to the EU and will be a key criterion for Albania’s EU accession process.

Beleri has remained in prison for more than 50 days, and has alleged his arrest was politically motivated, arranged by the Rama government.

He was arrested two days before the municipal elections, accused of buying votes. 

Mitsotakis also met with new Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic, with whom he agreed to work to strengthen bilateral relations and support progress in Montenegro’s EU accession bid.