ABTTF President: “The rule of law must be fully and completely respected not only by EU candidate countries but also by current EU Member States. Unfortunately, our country Greece does not respect this principle. There are three ECtHR judgments waiting to be executed since 2008, and our country persistently fails to execute the ECtHR judgments in the Bekir-Ousta group of cases’’.
Vasileios Giogiakas, Deputy of the ruling New Democracy from the prefecture of Threspotia, attended the 33rd anniversary event of the Democratic Union of the Greek Minority OMONOIA, the social, political, and cultural organisation of the Greek minority in Albania.
In his speech on behalf of the Speaker of the Greek Parliament, Konstantinos Tasoulas, Giogiakas emphasised that the struggle to respect the rights of the Greek national minority in Albania is a difficult path and further indicated that OMONOIA contributes to respecting the rights of the Greek national minority in Albania.
Deputy Vasileios Giogiakas stated that the 33rd anniversary event of OMONOIA was overshadowed by the case of Himara’s elected Mayor Fredis Beleri, who is currently in prison, and that the issue is not a bilateral issue between Greece and Albania, but rather that it is related to the progress to be achieved by the neighbouring country regarding its perspective for accession and respect for the rule of law.
Moreover, Giogiakas underscored that the struggle to respect the rights of the Greek national minority in Albani is a difficult path and explained that Greece will not accept the next stages of Albania’s accession process unless a clear step is taken towards the inauguration of Fredi Beleris and to ensure him a fair trial.
President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Halit Habip Oğlu made the following statement: “We observe the consideration that our country Greece has for the rights of the Greek minority in Albania. The statement made by the Deputy from New Democracy that the detention of the Mayor of the Municipality of Himara Fredis Beleri is related to the principle of rule of law and to Albania’s accession to the EU and does not constitute an issue between Albania and Greece leads to think about the situation of the Turkish community in Western Thrace in our country. The rule of law must be fully and completely respected not only by EU candidate countries but also by current EU Member States. Unfortunately, our country Greece does not respect this principle. There are three ECtHR judgments waiting to be executed since 2008, and our country persistently fails to execute the ECtHR judgments in the Bekir-Ousta group of cases. We have also expressed this issue within the framework of the reports on the Rule of Law prepared by the European Commission. Our country Greece should look back at itself while lecturing Albania. We want to live in a country that fully and completely fulfils the principles of rule of law and democracy.”
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