Greece offers reprieve in passport spelling spat

ATHENS, Aug. 11 – The Greek Foreign Ministry has told the country’s border police to let Albanian children born in Greece travel in and out of the country regardless of how their birth place is spelled on their passports. The reprieve is only valid until Sept. 5, however. Greek authorities had stopped hundreds of Albanian families who reside in Greece legally from crossing the border because the children of the Albanian immigrants who were born in the in Greece in their past decade were given Albanian passports with their birth place spelled in Albanian. Greece wants Albanian passports to have the names of Greek cities spelled in English, citing international treaties. (i.e. Thessaloniki versus Selanik).
The issue has turned into a spat between the two countries, particularly because it has made life miserable for many Albanian families who either get stuck in Albania on their way back to their jobs in Greece or decide no to travel at all instead of risking headaches. Albanian Ombudsman Igli Totozani had earlier urged the Albanian Foreign Ministry to work toward resolving a spelling issue of place of birth in Albanian passports. Albanian Ambassador to Athens Dashnor Dervishi had also met with Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos to discuss the issue.
According to the Albanian embassy, the Greek authorities had been willing to hold meetings to resolve the issue.