His choice Freddy Belleri by Kyriakos Mitsotakis about the New Democracy’s Euroballot, the European website presents in an article Politico.
He basically talks about a controversial personality, noting that the tensions between of Athens and Tirana threaten to burden Albania’s bid for membership EU.
He points out the difference of opinion since for Athens it is a victim of fabricated political accusations while for Albania a threatening figure.
He also mentions that Freddy Beleri has been accused of buying votes during the elections in which he was elected Mayor of Himarra with a 19-vote margin.
They even add that “Albania’s suspicions of Beleri run deep, often claiming he is involved with an unrepentant militant terrorist network. In 1995 – the year after an attack in which two Albanian soldiers were killed – he was arrested and given a three-year suspended sentence in Greece for complicity in the possession of weapons.
To note how “his alleged involvement in these activities has been repeatedly investigated by the Albanian judiciary – in 1994, 2005 and 2015 – but without finding any evidence against him.”
The article interestingly notes that the issue has burdened Greece’s relations “with some of its EU allies, notably with Berlin, when the German chancellor Olaf Solz spoke publicly in favor of Albania’s EU candidacy despite the objections of Athens”. To add the comment to his article, his Angelos Syrigosassistant professor of International Law at Panteion University and Member of Parliament of New Democracy:
“For now, Americans and Europeans are not convinced that the Beleri case is a matter of democracy, the rule of law and a violation of human rights.”
She even adds her statement Marilena Koppaprofessor of comparative politics at Panteion University, who stated that Greece’s action was “populist, opportunistic and short-sighted”.
He notes, of course, that for New Democracy the support of an imprisoned Greek is a demonstration “patriotic credentials” in an effort “to counter the increase in support for far-right parties, including the nationalist Hellenic Solution party and the ultra-Orthodox Niki party.”
He adds that Athens’ support for Beleris “it’s not without risks” and states:
“First, it is sure to rekindle long-standing grievances with Tirana and annoy supporters of EU enlargement, who argue that New Democracy is poisoning the process by taking a bipartisan dispute over the rule of law to the European level.”
It also reveals that according to information from Politico, “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece is wary of playing politics with Beleris and has expressed “strong reservations” about his candidacy.”
“The decision on the candidacy of Beleris had to weigh the electoral gain for the ruling party and the support of patriotic right-wing action within the New Democracy party on the one hand, against relations with Albania and the majority of Greece’s European partners on the other”, he told Politico Loukas Tsoukalis, professor at Sciences Po in Paris.
“The decision taken by the Greek prime minister shows that the scales have finally tipped in favor of the first front”, he added himself.
Read also:
Beleris, MAVI and Kalashnikovs
PASOK nails the… “witness” Mrs. Evi Christofilopoulou for Beleris
ND: Internal grumbling and tension about Beleris and celebrities
The games with the Beleri case in Albania
The “ALFA” project, Beleris and the national interest
#Politico #election #Fredis #Beleris #wild #card #Albanian #prisons
