Athens complains to Tirana about attack on ethnic Greeks
Athens has filed a demarche with Albania’s Foreign Ministry over a raid earlier this week by a group of about 100 Albanian youths on the predominantly ethnic Greek village of Dervicani, in the south of the neighboring country.
Greece’s ambassador in Tirana, Leonidas Rokanas, on Wednesday urged local authorities to track down, arrest and punish those responsible for the violence which occurred a few hours after a brawl at the politically sensitive Euro 2016 qualifier match between Serbia and Albania. He also asked Albanian officials to take all necessary measures to protect ethnic Greeks in view of Ohi Day celebrations on October 28.
Rokanas warned that such incidents jeopardize Albania’s hopes of joining the European Union. The country received EU candidate status in June.
The demarche was lodged on Wednesday but Greek officials decided to make it public only after the opposition reacted on the issue.
