FM Dendias to raise issue of detained ethnic Greek at Brussels Council of FMs Monday

The newly elected mayor of Himare, ethnic Greek Dionysis-Fredi Beleri, should be released by Albanian authorities, Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias told Star TV on Wednesday evening, adding that he would raise the issue in Brussels.

Beleri won the mayoral race in southern Albania on Sunday, but remains detained by court order in Tirana, following suspicions of voter bribery according to reports.

"Because this is an extremely serious issue, on Monday morning I will be in Brussels. We are having a lunch with the Western Balkan foreign ministers there," Dendias said. "The issue should be raised at the Council of ministers. It is not possible not to raise it. Detaining a candidate mayor 48 hours before elections and keeping him in detention after he has been elected, is not usual. (...) Why is he being held? What is that element of threat that requires the extended detention? These are great questions," he added.

FM Dendias also expects to meet with his Albanian counterpart during the lunch, while he also noted that he had dispatched Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary General and Ambassador Theocharis Lalakos, to meet with Beleri and his aide Pantelis Kokavessis, who is also jailed in Tirana and check on their condition. The Greek ambassador in Tirana has also been directed to visit the two detained men in jail.

The minister said he has great faith in Greek-Albanian friendship, and the two countries are very close.