Citizenship granted to spy in old age
An 83-year-old Albanian of Greek origin who spent 28 years of his life in prison in the neighboring country after being caught spying for Greece is to finally see his wish of being granted Greek citizenship come true. It was revealed yesterday that Deputy Interior Minister Thanassis Nakos has given the green light for Loukas Christidis to become a Greek national, 47 years after he and two other northern Epirotes were sent to Albania to gather information about the Soviet and Chinese military presence at Aghioi Saranta (Sarande), close to the Greek border. Christidis was arrested as he attempted to make his way back to Greece and was sent to one of the notorious forced labor camps of the Enver Hoxha regime. Christidis returned to Greece after the collapse of the communist regime in 1991. He now resides in Igoumenitsa, northwestern Greece, in a home for people with chronic illnesses.
