The President of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, has severely criticized Greece's pressure on Albania, regarding the issue of the elected mayor of Himara, Fredi Beleri, who has been imprisoned for months for buying and selling votes.
During a press conference, where Milanovic also spoke about the Croatian fans arrested in Greece for rioting in the match against the Athens team, AEK, he also described the whole situation and the way the Greek government exerts pressure against the smaller countries of the region.
"Greece is not showing that there is a rule of law," he emphasized during his speech.
"At the same time, the mayor of Athens has come to demonstrate in an Albanian village. This happens due to the fact that a few weeks ago, a candidate of Greek ethnicity, in order to win the Municipality of Himara, was caught stealing votes. And they go to Himara to protest with a group of other people and oppose the decision. I know very well what happens there", declared Milanovic.
Milanovic declares that this is direct pressure from Greece on the Albanian judicial system and on Albanian politics.
He makes a further parallelism with the arrested fans of Dinamo Zagreb, for whom he has asked to be released.
But in this case, from the Greek side, this behavior has been labeled as pressure on Greek justice.
Why then, asks Milanovic, his position is called pressure on Greek justice, and the case of Albania and the Beleri case is not the same?
"My answer is that they are to be attacked, because what they are doing is not justice," declared Milatovic.
Greece's threats to release Beler have gone so far that our neighbors openly declare that they will block both the integration of Albania into the EU, but also the arrival of EU funds in our country.