Beler's mandate, the Foreign Ministry of Greece reacts/ "Many questions about the rule of law in Albania"

2024-07-05 20:04:00, Politikë CNA

Beler's mandate, the Foreign Ministry of Greece reacts/ "Many

Fredi Beleri, former elected mayor of the Municipality

The decision to dismiss Fredis Beleris from the post of the mayor of Heimaur is "the announced end of a process with many question marks regarding the basic principles of the rule of law", the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.

Greece condemned Albania's decision to invalidate the mandate of ethnic Greek Fredi Beleri as mayor of the southern Albanian region of Himara, calling it a "preordained result" fraught with legal issues.

Earlier on Friday, the Central Election Commission of Albania removed his mandate.

Last month, Beleri was elected a member of the European Parliament with Greece's ruling New Democracy party. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' decision to appoint him was to address alleged injustices in Albania.

In its statement, the Greek Foreign Ministry criticized the decision as a violation of the rule of law, stressing that Himara has been run by unqualified officials over the past year. The ministry called on the Albanian authorities to ensure that Beleri, now a member of the European Parliament, is allowed to participate in the hearings that begin on July 16 in Strasbourg, France.

"The puzzle - inspired and executed from start to finish by Prime Minister Edi Rama - is complete," Beleri said in a statement. "His plan from the beginning was to prevent me from taking office as the elected mayor of Himara".

Beleri condemned his arrest as a "coup" and described his trial as a "farce", claiming that a witness had been bribed by Albanian police to give false evidence. He accused Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama of orchestrating his dismissal and criticized the flawed judicial process.

Beleri opposed the president of the court, who is banned from entering Greece due to forgery, and the appointment of an unelected president of the appeals court, with the argument that these issues violated the fairness and integrity of the processes./ Kathimerini/ CNA