Mitsotakis–Beleri: Albania must follow the European acquis
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met on Monday with Fredi Beleri, the jailed member of Albania’s ethnic Greek minority who was elected last month to the European Parliament and is visiting Athens on his way to Strasbourg.
“I hope that soon you will be out of jail for good, for this painful chapter to finally end for all of us so we can move on and look forward,” Mitsotakis told Beleri at the beginning of their meeting. “We also have every reason to want an Albania which … comes closer to Europe, while strictly adhering to its European commitments. This I think is a common goal that we all want to work towards.”
“I believe that the rule of law, the right to elect and be elected, are not self-evident in the country in which we live. I want to help with that,” Beleri told Mitsotakis during their meeting, according to a transcript released by the prime minister’s office. “To help the Greek ethnic minority stay in its ancestral home, but also for this state to come closer and become a member of the European family.”
Beleri, who holds dual Greek and Albanian citizenship, was arrested two days before the May 14, 2023 municipal elections in Himare, a predominantly ethnic Greek town on the Albanian Riviera, 220 kilometers southwest of the capital Tirana. He was charged with offering about 40,000 Albanian leks (360 euros or $390) to buy eight votes.
He won the election with a 19-vote lead, backed by the ethnic Greek minority party and others opposing Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s governing Socialists. But he never took office, being detained until his court conviction in March. An appeals court upheld the ruling last month, and Albanian authorities stripped Beleri of his post as mayor of Himare, where a new election will be held August 4.
Beleri has denied any wrongdoing, claiming Rama directly targeted him to keep control of Himare, and that judges ignored evidence in his favor. Albanian officials strongly reject his claims, citing the independence of the judiciary.
He arrived in Athens on Monday after being granted a five-day leave by the Albanian authorities to attend the opening session of the new EU assembly in Strasbourg. During this time, he is required to maintain contact with the police and return to serve the remainder of his two-year prison sentence.
[Kathimerini, AP]
