Greece will block any European funding for Albania if Fredi Beleri is not allowed to be sworn in as the mayor of Himarë. This is the warning of the Greek Minister of Labor, Andonis Georgiadis, during an interview given to the Greek television ERT.

Georgiadis declared that “the neighboring country should forget the European course if it hinders Beleri’s swearing in”.

“If the elections are repeated or another mayor is sworn in, for Greece it will be a bad factor in relations with Albania for an indefinite period. Albania will pay dearly if it continues to violate the rights of the Greeks. The message for Albania today is clear. If they continue to prevent the swearing in of the new Mayor of Himarë, Fredi Beleri, they will have to forget their European course and the money from Europe”, said Georgiadis.

The Greek minister called for Albania to review its position and assessed that the lack of invitation to Prime Minister Rama at the informal dinner in Athens is a clear message for the Western Balkans.

“The decision of Kyriakos Mitsotakis to invite everyone else except Rama, I think, shows that the case of Fredi Beleri is not passing without obstacles in the Greek government. Those who thought that Kyriakos Mitsotakis would be soft on this issue were wrong,” he added.

An informal dinner for the Western Balkans convened by Mitsotakis is being held in Athens on Monday. Prime Minister Rama was not invited by his Greek counterpart, but President Begaj was invited instead. The latter will not go because of the previously planned agenda.