Artan Hoxha declared "non grata" by Greece

2025-11-24 11:03:00, Aktualitet CNA

The authorities of the Republic of Greece declared yesterday the investigative journalist Artan Hoxha as "non grata", describing him as "undesirable" and a threat to public order, and permanently banning him from entering Greek territory.
Journalist Hoxha was traveling to the city of Ioannina yesterday when he was stopped by the Greek border police at the Kakavija border crossing.

At the border police counter, where passport control is carried out for citizens entering Greek territory, journalist Hoxha was informed that he could not enter the Republic of Greece, as he posed a threat to public order and the internal security of this country.
After his passport was taken, he was held for about an hour at the Greek police. At around 10:30 local time, he was informed of the decision of the Greek authorities, which declared him "non grata" for an indefinite period.

In the decision that the Greek police handed to journalist Hoxha, it is stated that:
1) he has been characterized as an undesirable person.
2) he is considered a dangerous person for public order and internal security, for public health or international relations of one or more European Union countries.

Subsequently, journalist Hoxha was marked with a cross in his passport with a pen over the Greek police stamp and was asked to immediately leave Greek territory.

This is a repeated case by the Greek authorities against Albanian journalists who have denounced or exposed illegal activities to the detriment of the interests of the Republic of Albania or to the detriment of Albanian national interests. Such a decision was previously taken against Top Channel journalist Marin Mema, who is no longer allowed to set foot on Greek territory.

Despite being a member state of the European Union, the Greek state has proven that it continues the same path of penalizing and discriminating against Albanian journalists, who, according to them, “harm” Greek national interests.

Journalist Hoxha was informed that this decision was taken at the beginning of 2024, at the height of the campaign for the European Union parliamentary elections, when Fredi Beleri, with Albanian and Greek citizenship, was running on the list for MEPs of the ruling party Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy) of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Journalist Hoxha, in addition to publicly denouncing Bejler's activity in the "Peshkepije Massacre" in 1994, where two Martyrs of the Fatherland were killed, has also faced legal proceedings in the Criminal Court of Tirana during 2023-2024.

Among other things, journalist Hoxha has denounced Bejler's activity, to the detriment of Albanian interests and in investigative articles in the Greek media during the campaign for the European Parliament elections.

For more than 23 years, journalist Artan Hoxha has published in the media, mainly in Gazeta Shqiptare and the television News24, investigative articles and documentaries regarding activities detrimental to Albanian interests, starting from the scandal of the construction of cemeteries for Greek soldiers on Albanian territory, the scandal of the exhumation of the remains of Kosina villagers to present them as martyrs of the Greek army killed in World War II. Journalist Hoxha has published a long series of investigations over the years regarding the Peshkëpi Massacre, an event that occurred in 1994, which constitutes the most serious attack on the territorial integrity of the Republic of Albania since the mid-1960s.

This massacre was carried out by a commando from Greek territory, which attacked the border post of Peshkëpi in Gjirokastër, taking hostage for several hours, 130 recruits of the Albanian Army and killing the "Martyrs of the Homeland", commander Fatmir Shehu and soldier Arsen Gjini. Journalist Hoxha has subsequently provided evidence and facts that members of the Greek police, Albanian citizens members of the ultranationalist paramilitary organization MAVI (Front for the Liberation of Northern Epirus), along with Fredi Bejleri, were involved in this event.

In 2018, journalist Hoxha exclusively published footage of the Bularati incident, which showed that the Albanian citizen of Greek nationality, Konstantinos Katsifas, was not a martyr who was being attacked because he defended Greek national symbols, but a terrorist armed with a Kalashnikov, who opened frontal fire against the Dropulli police.

During the 2024 election campaign, journalist Artan Hoxha collaborated with several well-known Greek media outlets in publishing articles showing how Fredi Bejleri had helped Albanian criminals escape imprisonment and Greek justice, presenting them as Greek minorities who had protected Orthodox churches in Greece.../ CNA