The ideologies and eternal guilt of a part of the country’s political system against him Northern Hellenism brought to light the announcement of the candidacy of the elected, but imprisoned, mayor of Heimarra Freddy Beleris on the ND ballot. for the European elections.
The Northern Continent has always divided the political world, as the Left, trapped in the repressed and in the ideologies of the Civil War and admiration for the Hoxha regime, to which it had depended for “help”, has always treated the Greek Unity with particular suspicion, if not hostility. Believing that by demanding rights and autonomy he undermined his relations Hoxha regime with her forces in the Civil War.
Until 1991, when the borders were opened, the Left viewed with almost hostility any attempt to raise the issue of the rights of the Greek minority for reasons of “internationalist solidarity” with the Hoxha regime. Thus, the Northern mainland became a privileged field for the Church and the conservative faction. In particular after 1991, despite the wrong handlings of that period, conditions began to be created for asserting the rights of the minority.
However, the Albanian regime continued a policy of repression and often pushed the minorities to leave for Greece, in order to be completely freed from their presence and from the demands for more autonomy and participation in social, economic and political life.
The “Trial of 5”
The famous “Trial of the 5” in 1994 was a real pogrom against the minority leadership, radicalizing a part of it, which often sought support from the Greek security services. This was followed by the tragic episode of Episkopi, with the murder of two Albanian soldiers by an armed group, while the supply of shotguns to many expatriates for “self-defense” had preceded it, and a year later the episode with the arrest of a group of expatriates near the border with Albania who were in possession of weapons. Among them was O young Beleris at the time. Those arrested were eventually tried for a misdemeanor and the case was dismissed.
In the years that followed, Beleris, who did not permanently leave Albania and did not hide his ideas for greater autonomy and securing the rights of the Greeks of Heimarra, was constantly targeted by the Albanian authorities. Twice, the Episcopal file was opened judicially in the attempt of the Albanian services to implicate him, an attempt that did not succeed.
At the same time that Greece was following the pro-Albanian policy adopted by Carolos Papoulias, the Northern Continent remained in the hands of a portion of the ND, the LAOS and the Far Right, even though it was a major issue of foreign policy and safeguarding the rights of an internationally recognized minority. Thirty years later, Beleris, having managed to overcome the obstacles and the war launched against him by Edi Ramamanaged to win the elections in Himarra.
For the Albanian prime minister, who had taken the Heimarra case personally, it was a matter of honor not to let the “disobedient” Beleris take over as mayor. Beleris, who denounced plans to expropriate properties in his area by business interests linked to the political system of Tirana and who supposedly expressed “Greek nationalism” in Heimarra, which had been excluded from the minority zones under the Khoja regime with the aim of her de-Hellenization.
After last May’s election coup and the imprisonment of Beleris, with a conviction that was not based on evidence during a mock trial, Rama himself turned him into a symbol for the rights of the Greek ethnic minority, but also for the struggle for the rule of law in Albania.
For Greece, it was a duty to support the elected mayor of Heimarra, without, of course, overlooking the problems faced by the Greek minority as a whole, nor the need for good relations with Albania. However, the good relations with the neighbor cannot follow the “Papoulia spirit” and continue to be disproportionate to the detriment of our country.
The Mitsotakis decision
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself took responsibility for the decision to include Beleris in the N.D.’s European ballot.a decision that can be interpreted by many as a counterweight to the leakage of votes to the right, so that the opposition talks about small-party exploitation of the Heimarra case, but on the other hand it contains the message that even if Rama imposes the fait accompli on the Heimarra Municipality , this case and the issue of the rights of the Greek minority are anything but closed…
And based on these data, relations should return to a normality, in which of course the issue of the minority will be included as part of the capital of the rule of law, as well as the issue of referral to The Hague for the delimitation of the EEZ in the same package with Albania’s European course. And it is obvious that the criticism leveled by part of the Left on the choice of Beleris is made for ideological and micro-political reasons.
Apparently no one believes that Beleris, because of his “past”, is a threat to the integrity of Albania or is preparing to declare the autonomy of Himarra in order to lead to a crisis in the relations between the two countries. Even Rama did not dare to say this…
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Tags: years persecution Albanian regime
