A historic visit to the Greek minority in Albania
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis became the first Greek prime minister to visit the historic Greek minority in southern Albania in over 30 years on Thursday. Expectations were great in the community, not just because of the symbolic significance of the visit, but also because people hope to see a willingness from Athens to address some of the key challenges they face - whether it’s standing up for their rights, or helping the community economically. Mitsotakis was accompanied by Olympic gold medalist Pyrros Dimas, a native of the region. Nikos Efstathiou, the deputy editor in chief at the weekly magazine LiFO, a former journalist with Kathimerini, and an author who has written a recently published book on Pyrros Dimas that gives in-depth insights into the experience of the Greek minority in Albania, joins Thanos Davelis to break down the significance of this week’s visit by Prime Minister Mitsotakis.
You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:
Gloom hanging over southern Albania set to clear
Mitsotakis: Ethnic Greek minority in Albania is ‘bridge of friendship’
Turkey keeps up overflights in Aegean