Greek minister reschedules visit to Tirana; both Tirana and Athens say there are no frozen ties between the countries.

TIRANA, May 7 – The planned visit to Albania by Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis has been postponed.
There were many reasons to explain the postponement. The Albanian foreign minister would not be in the country during the Greek Foreign Minister’s visit due to a diplomatic tour in Europe. Also, former Foreign Minister Besnik Mustafaj recently resigned from the post.
Nevertheless, local Albanian media speculated there was again a cooling off of relations between the two neighboring countries.
In recent weeks Albanian media has covered the debate sparked after a mayor belonging to the Greek community said Albanian Greeks should strive for independence, saying that the Greek minority in Albania would ask no more than what Albania asks for Kosova, that is, independence. There were many negative reactions to these pronouncement including asking the prime minister and the government to sack the mayor of Himara, Vasil Bollano.
Albanian immigrants in Greece are always a controversial issue between the two countries. Many of the Albanians cross into Greece without proper documents and thousands are returned every month by the Greek authorities.
Local media even hinted that the cancellation of the visit was a clear indication from Athens that Albania should first fully respect the Greek minority in the country or it would take no further steps toward assisting in Albania’s integration into the European Union.
But diplomatic sources confirmed to Tirana Times there was no crisis between the two countries.
Greek embassy sources in Tirana said that there was purely a “change of agenda.” They did not mention, however, which were the real reasons for the cancellation.
Sources at the Albanian foreign ministry also said that the cancellation was made known to the Albanian authorities two weeks ago when deputy minister Edith Harxhi was at a regional meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization in Belgrade.
Relations between the two neighboring countries have naturally improved, though one cannot say they have noted any ‘excellent moment’ like the words that both countries use to describe their ties.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has twice gone to Athens, but neither his Greek counterpart nor Greek foreign minister have yet to visit Albania.