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The photograph was taken successful 1903. It depicts 87 boys, 11 girls, three teachers and a priest, each with a frown connected their faces arsenic they look astatine the lens. Below, successful superior letters, it reads: The students of the Greek schoolhouse of Vouno, successful Himare. Vouno is Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s maternal village. In a caller interrogation with Kathimerini, helium claimed that nary 1 successful Vouno spoke Greek. The photograph says otherwise.
The points Rama makes successful the interrogation are, unfortunately, arsenic weak. He spoke astatine magnitude connected the contented of spot rights, which is 1 of the two biggest issues successful the state close present (the different 1 being corruption). The occupation appeared aft the communist authorities nationalized each assets successful the 1950s. It’s been 35 years since the authorities fell and Rama has been premier curate the past 13 of those, leaving Albania arsenic the lone erstwhile communist state successful Europe arsenic a whole that has not resolved the issue.
Rama passed a instrumentality successful 2020 connected spot rights that has yet to beryllium implemented. In 2024, arsenic portion of the country’s accession framework, Albania made a committedness to the European Union that it would contented spot titles by 2030. Nothing has been done since. On the contrary, nary 1 knows however galore properties person been recorded, nor who their ineligible owners are, arsenic the authorities will not disclose the information, successful violation of existing legislation.
The quantitative information connected spot restitution are peculiarly revealing. According to the onshore register, the process astatine the nationwide level is said to beryllium astir 60% advanced. In the municipalities, however, where Albania’s Greek number mostly resides, these rates stay dramatically low. They bash not transcend 10% successful Himara, 20% successful Finiq and 30% successful Dropull.
The information is that taste Greeks who negociate to unafraid their spot rights lone person 1 enactment for exploiting their assets, and that’s selling them
And this is why the Albanian authorities refuses to people elaborate information connected spot restitution by municipality, particularly for Himara and the southern areas successful general. It does not want to uncover the adverse favoritism against the Greek minority.
Similar favoritism is evident successful the substance of strategic and smaller-scale investments. There is not a single Greek sanction to beryllium seen successful the accusation connected investors published by the Territorial Council, of which Rama is, shockingly, the president. The information is that taste Greeks who negociate to unafraid their spot rights lone person 1 enactment for exploiting their assets, and that’s selling them.
Rama besides referred to the improvement of tourism, which exists contempt a implicit lack of infrastructure. What is interesting, though, is that it relies wholly connected home superior – nary foreigner has travel to put successful the country. Furthermore, planetary organizations study that the bulk of these funds person not been raised done ineligible channels. The lack of overseas investors comes down to the inability to vie against shady funds arsenic overmuch arsenic it does to corruption. Such a exemplary of maturation is not sustainable.
In the aforesaid interview, Rama displays an aversion to definite words oregon situations. He systematically refers to residents of Greek root arsenic “Greek-speaking people” and claims that the politician of Himare (chosen by him), Vangjel Tavo, has 1 Greek and 1 Albanian parent, when everyone knows that some are Greek. Even Tavo himself exploits his Greek practice to service the rhetoric of the Socialist Party of Albania.
Referring to me, Rama says that “What happened successful the past with the idiosyncratic who ended up successful jailhouse alternatively of serving arsenic politician was unfortunate.” I would similar to enactment that I person a name, two successful fact: 1 that was declared astatine the registry bureau under the communist regime, when we were deprived of our cardinal spiritual rights, Fredi, and the other, which was fixed to maine later, when I was baptized, Dionysios. And my imprisonment was not some “unfortunate” event. My prosecution was the effect of a strategy orchestrated personally by Rama (incidentally, the authoritative helium selected to bring charges against maine has since been convicted implicit a antithetic matter and is present successful prison). A ruling from the European Court of Human Rights is expected soon, which will take stock of what took spot during that period.
In conclusion, what we person are two antithetic pictures of Albania. The representation officially projected by the Albanian premier minister, Edi Rama, connected the 1 manus and, connected the other, the 1 reflected successful the reports of the European Commission and the European Parliament, which speak of interference by organized transgression networks successful state administration, shortcomings successful the regularisation of law, violations of number rights and delays successful reforms.
It is nary coincidence, moreover, that astir 1 cardinal citizens person near the state during Rama’s clip successful office. These, ultimately, are the two Albanias. The question is not which 1 is projected, but which 1 prevails.
As a postscript, I would similar to notation that Rama besides said, successful the Kathimerini interview, that “If I had Greek roots, I would beryllium very blessed and proud, but I bash not.” In the Greek General State Archives, however, there is simply a certificate issued by the priests of the village of Vouno successful Himara, dated October 9, 1846. It states that successful 1824-1825, dozens of men from Vouno fought alongside Spyros Milios successful Messolonghi. Three of them – Spyros, Giannis and Fotos Kolekas – are nonstop ancestors of Aneta Koleka, Rama’s precocious mother. So, the Albanian premier curate tin present take pridefulness successful his Greek roots, too.
Dionysios-Fredi Beleri is simply a European Parliament subordinate for Greece’s New Democracy party.
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