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The French newspaper "Le Monde" has dedicated an article to Rama's visit to Athens tomorrow. While commenting on the situation between the two countries, he also mentions the dark past of Fredi Beleri, who is accused of being involved in the massacre of Peshpia.
On Sunday, May 12, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama starts a European tour in Athens, targeting the Albanian diaspora. In view of the May 2025 elections, Mr. Rama wants to establish electronic voting for Albanian citizens living abroad.
But the Prime Minister's visit, while disputes have flared up between Athens and Tirana, is not viewed favorably by the Greek side. "In the current situation and taking into account the European elections, this visit seems quite inappropriate to me", said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday, May 8, in an interview with "Proto Thema" newspaper.
For the Greek press, the head of the Albanian government will actually try to influence the vote of tens of thousands of Albanians participating in the European elections on June 9 and encourage them not to support the ruling conservative party, New Democracy. Which has proposed a candidate for the European elections, Fredi Beleri, a Greek-Albanian mayor sentenced in Albania to prison for election fraud. Since the 1990s, about 700,000 Albanians have settled in Greece, representing 60% of the foreign population in Greece.
In 2023, two days before the municipal elections in the city of Himara (2,800 inhabitants), in the south of Albania, Fredi Beleri, an opponent of the outgoing socialist mayor supported by the Albanian prime minister, is arrested for having bought votes for nearly 400 euros. Although in prison, he won the election, but could not be officially sworn in.
The Greek government quickly expressed its concerns regarding the legal proceedings against Mr. Beleri, who denounced a "political arrest". Athens warns that this could have consequences in Albania's efforts to join the European Union.
In March, Albanian justice sentenced Fredi Beleri to two years in prison for election fraud. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted judging that it is "clearly disproportionate to the seriousness of the alleged offense".
In mid-April, the nomination of Fredi Beller as a candidate for the European elections by the New Democracy party, which leads the polls, only further fueled tensions. "The fight I'm fighting is not personal. It is a battle for the rule of law and democracy," Beleri commented on his Facebook page. But for the Greek opposition and analysts, the Greek prime minister above all wants to attract the far-right electorate with this candidacy.
Beleri, placed on the list of the conservative party, is not at all unknown to Greek nationalists: in 1994, his name was linked to the armed uprising of the Greek minority on the border between the two countries (Peshkepia). He was also convicted in Greece for carrying weapons without a permit.
In the city of Himara, a new vote will take place after the Court of Appeal takes the final decision on the "Beleri" case. / Adapted "Pamphlet" from " Le Monde "
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