Germany expresses itself against Greece for blocking the path of Albania's membership in the European Union. Chancellor Olaf Scholz received in Berlin the head of the Greek government, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whom he advised not to hold hostage the opening of the first chapters of integration between Tirana and Brussels for bilateral issues.
At the joint press conference, the German leader underlined that now is the time for the EU to join the Western Balkans, 20 years after the Thessaloniki declaration: "In the past, I have worked hard with various individual countries to ensure that there is no bilateral issues that would hinder the success of this process. We are working to make this possible in the future. You also raised the issue of relations between North Macedonia and Bulgaria. Hopefully we have made some progress. We are working hard to resolve the really difficult situation between Kosovo and Serbia. We are always on the side of the accession process, because we want these countries to become members soon".
The Greek prime minister confirmed that he discussed the membership of the Western Balkans in the EU with the German chancellor and praised the protagonist role of Scholz in the Berlin Process. However, he indirectly mentioned that he will not give up his demands for the release of the elected mayor of the Municipality of Himara, Fredi Beleri, with the usual pretext that his imprisonment is "a violation of the rule of law, a violation of civil rights and non-respect of political rights".
"We have a special role in adapting to the legal package and European rules, but also in respecting the laws in order to really create a proper membership process," said Mitsotakis.
This comes after the optimism expressed on Monday in Brussels by senior EU officials for the opening of the first 3 membership chapters for Albania, which specifically deal with democracy, the functioning of democratic institutions and public procurement. For the green light to be given by the Union, the unanimous support of 27 member states is needed. However, Greece blocked on Sunday the European Commission's request to the Council for the opening of negotiations for the first 3 group-chapters. The reason for this decision is related to the Beleri case. (A2 Televizion)
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