Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met on Wednesday with representatives of the Democratic Union of the Greek Minority -Omonia and of the Union for Human Rights Party that supports the Greek minority in Albania. The meeting included the president of Omonia, Vasilis Kagios, and the President of the Union for Human Rights Party, Vangjel Dule, as well as the president of the Omonia branch in Himare, Freddy Beleri.
During the meeting, the representatives of the Greek minority presented the major challenges and problems they are facing in Albania, noting that the foremost issue is their ability to freely exercise their right to self-determination, both in the context of the legislation implementing Albania’s framework law for the protection of minorities, which should have been already adopted, and with respect to the planned census in Albania in the following year.
They also underlined that it was crucial to resolve the property issue, which directly affects the ability of the minority’s members to survive in their homeland.
According to government sources, other issues discussed in the meeting related to education and use of the Greek language, pension and insurance matters relating to Albania’s Greeks and support for young entrepreneurs from the Greek community that want to launch business activities in Albania. The representatives of the minority thanked the Greek government for its support of the minority and the organisations that represent it, expressing the hope that the prime minister will visit the areas inhabited by the Greek minority, which Mitsotakis promised to do soon.
On his part, Mitsotakis reassured them that the Greek government will be at their side, underlining that the progress and the prosperity of the Greek minority is a top priority and the foremost issue on the agenda as regards relations and dialogue between Greece and Albania, adding that it was also among Albania’s commitments in the context of its European perspective. Mitsotakis referred to his recent meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, where they agreed on specific steps of progress, starting with matters concerning the Greek minority and with the perspective of eventually resolving of all outstanding issues in Greek-Albanian bilateral relations.
Earlier, Mitsotakis also received visiting Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir, while he is scheduled to receive a visit from the ‘Smile of Child’ charity .
