The Beleri case, the concerns of the Greek minority, and Albania's EU ambitions
European leaders met this week in Tirana with their counterparts from the Western Balkans amid efforts to reinvigorate the enlargement process and bring the region into the European Union. This has put the spotlight on Albania, which is keen to move its accession bid forward. Greece, however, has made it clear that this progress could be in jeopardy over the continued imprisonment of Fredi Beleri, the ethnic Greek mayor-elect of Himare. The sizable Greek minority in Albania has also denounced the trial as political, and for many it puts broader existential issues that Albania’s Greek minority is up against under the spotlight. John Psaropoulos, an independent journalist based in Athens and Al Jazeera’s Southeast Europe correspondent, joins Thanos Davelis to look at how this case is impacting Greece’s ties with Albania, Tirana’s ambitions to join the EU, and the Greek minority in Albania.
Read John Psaropoulos’ latest here: Greeks denounce Albanian trial of mayor-elect as political
You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:
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