TIRANA, Dec. 5 – The Albanian Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs issued a press release on Wednesday expressing indignation over the murder that same day of 18-year-old Marios Isak – the fourth Albanian killed in Greece in the last couple of weeks.
The foreign ministry said it has been notified from official Athens on Isak’s murder and expressed its condolences to the victim’s family. It also didn’t fail to remind Greek authorities a fast and serious investigation on the circumstances of his murder is necessary in context of the tense relationship between the countries’ populations, after ethnic Greek Konstantinos Katsifas was killed during a shootout with Albanian special police forces in southern Albania.
“The MEP strongly condemns the background of extremism and hate speech that has accompanied these events in the neighboring country and calls on Greek authorities to condemn and hamper any attempts of Golden Dawn or other extremist sections to violate the security and dignity of Albanians who work and contribute to the neighboring country,” the press release read.
Athens calls on Tirana to “show self-restraint”
Greece’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Alexandros Yennimatas, replying to a journalist’s question on Tirana’s statement on Wednesday, said that while Greece is still awaiting the final report on Katsifas’ death, official Tirana should demonstrate responsibility and self-restraint with the statements it issues.
“The generalisations attempted by Albania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, connecting various criminal cases and attributing these to an undeclared “campaign of hatred and violence” do not correspond with reality and are unacceptable,” Yennimatas said.
On Thursday, Greek media reported Isak was actually shot from a fellow Albanian of the same age, with whom he was on speaking terms with, for reasons allegedly involving a sum of money Isak was carrying on him.
A day earlier, on Tuesday, the Albanian ministry issued another press release on 63-year-old Petrit Zifle’s murder in the hands of a Greek Golden Dawn member, calling on Greek authorities to conduct a full investigation on the circumstances that led to the crime.
“The ministry issues its condolences to the passing away of citizen Petrit Zifle, congratulates the capturing of the perpetrator by the Greek police, and calls for a thorough clarification of the circumstances of the incident,” the statement reads.
Greek media reported Zifle and the 44-year-old Greek extremist, who was also a Golden Dawn party candidate in Corfu Island at the latest elections and who has already been arrested and confessed to the murder, had argued concerning Macedonia and other ethnic disputes until separated by other customers; a day later Zifle was found lifeless inside a ditch.
The back-up story
This is the latest in a series of deaths that have tensed Greek-Albanian relations even more. Before Zifle and Isak, a 33-year-old Albanian was found dead under unknown circumstances in the Trikala prison.
A while earlier in November Altin Mullai was killed during a shootout with Greek police, as he was caught during an anti-drug raid close to the Greek-Albania border.
Tensions between the two neighboring countries were raised after ethnic Greek Konstantinos Katsifas was killed in Albania’s Bularat village during a shootout with Albanian special police forces, who were gathered in the village to maintain order.
Although official reports stated Katsifas was shot dead only after he opened fire on the crowd that was gathered to celebrate the Greek soldiers who died during the Greek-Italian war in Gjirokastra’s Bularat, official Tirana and Athens found themselves at odds over the incident while Greeks in Athens and Thessaloniki even took the streets in protest of Katsifas’ death.
Additionally, a number of Greek media reported that Katsifas was shot at while raising a Greek flag in honor of the soldiers in Bularat.
Katsifas’ funeral, attended by a big number of Greeks, 52 of which were announced persona-non-gratae after displaying anti-Albanian cheers and symbols in the country’s south, had government officials from both sides calling for civil behavior among the people.
Albanian migrants living in Greece are the most vulnerable to the tensions that arose after Katsifas’ death. Greece is the second country that hosts the most Albanian migrants, after Italy.
Rama-Tsipras meeting to be expected soon
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Monday the Albanian-Greek relationship is a traditional relationship of friendship between two neighboring countries.
“Greeks love Albania, Albanians love Greeks. The rest is just politics,” Rama said, also confirming there will soon be another meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
“It’s expected that we will meet soon. I don’t know whether it will be in Tirana or Athens but it’s expected soon,” Rama told an Athens-Macedonia news agency on the sidelines of a conference in Tirana on news agencies and fake news.
Rama said the countries continue to be in the process of a very intense dialogue on many issues.
