“Vote buying is a serious offense in our law and law enforcement agencies prioritize combating it during the election season. This applies to all citizens of the Republic of Albania, including the brothers of the Greek minority who take part in our elections”, says in a post on Twitter the Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Dziatska after the stern message of Kyriakou Mitsotakis regarding the arrest of Freddy Belleris.

As she states, “the candidacy of Fredis Beleris, a citizen of Albania who is contesting elections from his fellow citizens, does not justify any special treatment. He is as equal before the law as anyone else. It’s up to prosecutors and judges to handle this case based on evidence.”

He calls, as he emphasizes, for friends in Athens to closely monitor the development of the case with patience, allowing the Albanian judiciary to do its work without external pressure or divisive messages. It is good to keep Brussels informed, but we should also wait for the data, Dziatska said.

Mitsotakis for the arrest of Beleris: Greece will not accept discounts in the protection of the Greek ethnic minority

Greece is not going to accept discounts on the Rule of Law and in the protection of the rights of the Greek National Minority in Albania emphasized the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis from the Mytilene where he is, sending a stern message to the Albanian authorities, after the arrest of Fredis Beleris.

In particular, the Prime Minister referring to the unpleasant event of the arrest of the candidate for the mayor of Heimarra, Freddy Beleris, a member of the Greek National Minority, said: “Allow me here to open a parenthesis and say something about an extremely unpleasant event that happened in our neighboring Albania, this morning, where, unfortunately, the candidate Mayor of Heimarra and member of the Greek National Minority, the Fredi Beleris». He added that “I want, here from Lesbos, to send a message to my friend Albania. Discounts on the Rule of Law and the protection of the rights of the Greek National Minority, Greece is not going to accept. If Albania wants to get closer to the European Union, it has an obligation to ensure free and fair municipal elections and to immediately release those it imprisoned, so that they can participate in the electoral process.”.

At the same time, the prime minister raises the issue at a higher European level, informing the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. As he made known in his Facebook post, Mr. Mitsotakis informed Ms. von der Leyen about the arrest “on false charges of the candidate for Mayor of Heimarra and member of the Greek National Minority, Freddy Beleris, two days before the elections. Albania must realize that Greece and the E.U. they are not going to accept discounts on the Rule of Law and the protection of the rights of the Greek National Minority”.

Dendias: The arrest of Beleris is an absolute scandal if there is no solid evidence

At arrest of Fredis Beleris candidate for the mayor of Heimarra two days before the elections he mentioned attending the informal meeting of of Foreign Ministers for Ukraine. As said by Mr. Dendias if there is no hard evidence, the arrest of a mayoral candidate two days before the election is an absolute scandal. I repeat something that Prime Minister Rama also acknowledged, the arrest of a mayoral candidate, two days before the election if there is no hard evidence, constitutes a scandal.

Mr. Dendias noted that he has already informed the EU High Representative, Mr. Joseph Borrell, as well as the Swedish Foreign Minister, while he emphasized that the Greek government will closely monitor the issue.

The full text of the Dendias statement follows:

Today’s discussion, even in the informal Council, about Ukraine is extremely important. Because in Ukraine, the European case is judged as a whole in terms of territorial integrity, but also human rights.

However, I would like to take a position on another, extremely serious issue. The arrest of a member of the Greek Minority, Freddy Beleris, a candidate for Mayor in Heimarra, Albania, together with another Greek. I would like to say that, unless there is hard evidence, the arrest of a candidate for Mayor two days before the election is an absolute scandal.

I have already informed the High Representative of the EU, Mr Borrell, and the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs as acting Presidency about this. The Greek government will monitor this extremely closely.

I repeat, something that the Albanian Prime Minister Rama also recognized. The arrest of a Mayor candidate two days before an election, if there is no solid evidence, constitutes a scandal.

It is recalled that the Avlonas prosecutor’s office issued an order early in the afternoon arrest warrant for Beleris on the charge of vote buying.

Meanwhile in his statement Prime Minister Rama characterized the arrest of Beleris as an example “of the determination of justice to apply the law”.

He demanded, as he says, that the arrest be “documented with evidence and legally protected”. He called on politics not to rush to conclusions and to leave the investigative work of the competent authorities unaffected.

He claimed, finally, that the event has nothing to do with the election campaign