Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has described Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's upcoming visit to Athens as an "unnecessary choice" by the Albanian leader, noting that "there are problems in Greek-Albanian relations". This was stated by Mitsotakis in an interview for the electronic edition of "Proto Topic" magazine, quoted by "Kathimerini" magazine, BTA broadcasts.
"This is his right, a choice that seems to me rather unnecessary, that's why I said it was an unnecessary choice,'' the Greek Prime Minister pointed out.
Rama is expected to arrive in Athens on Sunday to address a gathering of supporters and members of his party. The date of the visit marks the first anniversary of the arrest of Freddy Belleri, an ethnic Greek who was elected mayor of the Albanian municipality of Himara, but was unable to take office as he was imprisoned. He is now the candidate of Mitsotakis' New Democracy party. for the European elections in June.
In the interview, Mitsotakis emphasized that the Albanian prime minister is not coming to Athens as a guest of the government, but is coming to speak to his compatriots.
"We will not ban the assembly, we will not facilitate it," he said, adding that Belleri's jailing was a European issue, not a bilateral issue.
The Greek Foreign Ministry informed the office of the Albanian Prime Minister that it would be preferable for the visit to Rama to take place after the European Parliament elections on June 9.
Opposition parties were more categorical in their condemnation of Rama's visit, notes "Kathimerini".
The largest opposition force, SYRIZA, described it as a "provocative action that highlights the lack of an adequate policy for the Western Balkans of the Mitsotakis government.
PASOK party international affairs spokesman Dimitris Manzos, for his part, said that Rama's decision to make a speech in a pre-election environment was "a provocative act with obvious symbolism and clear messages as in the case of the elected mayor of Himara and his inclusion in the list of "New Democracy" as well as for Greek-Albanian relations in general.
Relations between Athens and Tirana have been strained over the arrest of ethnic Greek Freddy Belleri, elected in local elections last May as mayor of the Albanian municipality of Himara. Belleri was sentenced in March by an Albanian court to two years in prison for vote-buying. For its part, the ruling party in Greece "New Democracy" included him in his list for the European Parliament.