TIRANA, Feb. 23 – The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said that 100 Albanian passports were stolen in Greece from the car of the Albanian Consul in Janina Pervin Gjikuria, on Feb. 13.
According to the MEFA, the passports were produced by Aleat Company in Albania and after a deadlock by the Greek authorities in the Kakavijà« border point, they were being shipped by Gjikuria to the Albanian Embassy in Athens
The MEFA acknowledged violations in the passports’ transportation – not in accordance with the regular shipping practices of diplomatic packages – and ordered all investigative and administrative proceedings “to strictly punish, according to the degree of violation, those responsible for these practices that go against the rules and laws in force.”
According to the Albanian authorities, the ministry of interior, in cooperation with Aleat, has taken measures for disposal and invalidation of these passports, as well as the commitment to expedite the reproduction procedures and their replacement
The MEFA further said it has instructed all the necessary instances that the citizens affected by the damage caused to re-apply without spending, while the issuing of new passports should be made urgently.
Some time ago a handful of books for children of Albanian immigrants in Greece were blocked at the border by the Greek side, claiming they had nationalistic content. The books were not being shipped by diplomatic mail, and Albanian drivers of the MEFA were detained by Greek police.
The books did not reach the children of immigrants, while Albanian immigrant associations, despite requests from the Albanian Ministry of Education for new Albanian-teaching textbooks for Albanian children in Greece, were not given an answer.
