Edi Rama sees as much ado about nothing all the attention you gave to the case of Fredi Beleri, turning into an issue between two states. In an interview for the Greek media after the Thessaloniki meeting with the emigrants, Rama also explains the reasons why he did not meet with Beleri when he came to Tirana last week as part of the delegation of MEPs for the Stabilization-Association Committee.
"Justice in Albania is independent and no one can interfere in it, neither the Albanian government, nor the Greek government, and the Albanian justice system has made a decision. So this decision is not for discussion, it is only for implementation. And another fake news is that I refuse to date him because it's not true. I just don't have meetings with MEPs and that's it. I have not met the MEPs, not now, not even in the past," said Rama.
Rama assures that this issue has not damaged his friendship with Prime Minister Mitsotakis, a friendship he specifies does not prevail over the national interest.
"What happened does not change my view that Kyriakos is a very modern leader of Greece and I see him as a very intelligent person. Very educated, very good politician. So I have nothing but respect and friendship for him and we are friends. I consider him a good friend. Of course he is the prime minister of Greece and I am the prime minister of Albania and in these positions national interests or whatever you consider national interests prevail over friendship and that's how it is, but I don't see any problem on my part to further strengthen this relationship with Greece ", Rama said.
Asked about the issue of Greek minority properties in Himara, the Prime Minister tells Greek journalists that they are misinformed and some of them have misinformed with the news about this issue.
"There is a total misunderstanding about property in Himara, and there is a lot of misinformation about the property issue, because there is no such thing as a specific property problem there. There is an issue in all of Albania about properties, which we are facing every day and we are making progress. And in fact with the new mayor of Himara we are doing a lot of good work and in a few weeks we will finish the registration of all the houses in the entire municipality. So everything I've read, and I've read a lot of nonsense in the Greek media about expropriations, or some deviations, is not based on facts. This is just propaganda", said Rama.
Just as he said in the speech to the Albanians who participated in the meeting in Thessaloniki, Rama reiterates that friendship between the two peoples is very important to him.