Tirana Times
TIRANA, Sep. 13 -Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou sent a clear message to Tirana last week that it needs to protect the rights of its Greek minority. He was speaking Sunday in his replies to questions during a press conference at the Thessaloniki International Fair.
Concerning the recent murder of an Albanian, which Greece considers as a member of the Greek minority in Himare, southern Albania, Papandreou said that the incident was not “merely coincidence.”
“Unfortunately, we are seeing similar phenomena of a rise in nationalism by extremist groups that, sadly, seem to have political ramifications. These have targeted the Greek minority in Albania with, of course, the tragic incident of the murder of Aristotel Guma and other actions that show a hostile stance,” he said.
Papandreou stressed that Greece was treating this as a very serious issue that also affected bilateral relations, which Athens says it wants to be positive, but that if goes the wrong way, it would have an impact on Albania’s European course.
“Nationalism does not help the Balkans, it does not help neighboring countries. And I would like to send a message to the Albanian side that nationalisms have always created huge problems, not just between countries but also between citizens,” he added.
Noting that the Greek government had made serious efforts to integrate many Albanians in Greek society, Papandreou underlined that the rights of the Greek minority in Albania had to be protected by the Albanian government.
There was no formal answer from Tirana on such a warning.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Ilir Meta said that official Tirana had denounced the crime, and it was up to the justice to punish the perpetrator.
He also added that no extremist group of the Albanian society would be allowed to do anything, adding that there are excellent ties between the two countries that would not be allowed to change.
In another reaction, Besnik Mustafaj, former foreign minister, denounced the way Papandreou had tried to exploit the alleged murder for political purposes, acting not much differently than other Greekgovernments.
He said that Greek governments usually try to exploit such incidents while their country is at a tense moment. Mustafaj said that Papandreou should not speak so aggressively before the court gives the verdict and punish the persons responsible for the death.
