Tirana blames extremism in deaths of four Albanians in Greece

Albania’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the murder of four ethnic Albanians in neighboring Greece and denounced the hate speech propagated by the extremist Golden Dawn party.

A statement Wednesday called on Greek authorities “to denounce and put on a break any effort from the Golden Dawn or other extremist segments to violate Albanians’ security and dignity” there.

Four Albanians died in Greece in the past two weeks, including one killed by an alleged Golden Dawn Greek supporter and another shot by Greek police while trying to illegally cross the border transporting drugs. An Albanian prisoner and an 18-year-old were found dead in suspicious circumstances, though police said later on Wednesday that a Greek-Albanian teenager had come forward and confessed to accidentally shooting the latter.

Tensions between the neighbors heightened in October after the killing of an Albanian-Greek citizen, reportedly a Golden Dawn member, in a shootout with Albanian police. [AP, Kathimerini]