What is really happening in Himare?
Himare is a coastal area in Albania, situated 16 nautical miles (30 kilometers) north of the Greek island of Corfu, directly across from the Diapontia Islands in the Ionian Sea. It has gained attention due to its exceptional natural beauty and significant tourism potential, with a more than 60-kilometer coastline with plenty of sandy beaches. As a result, it has become a target for major economic interests. The European Commission’s 2022 report on Albania highlights the circulation of a significant amount of black money in the area, primarily stemming from drug trafficking. These illicit funds are often laundered through investments in the tourism sector.
Property ownership poses a theoretical obstacle to such investments. During the communist era, all privately owned immovable property was transferred to the state. Although 32 years have passed since the collapse of communism, the majority of former owners have yet to obtain definitive property titles. Only with the enactment of Law 7501 in 1991 were agricultural plots distributed, albeit not necessarily to their pre-communist owners, exclusively for cultivation, while the land remained under state control.
Gaining control of the Himare Municipality is crucial for resolving the challenges arising from the complex property status. Typically, potential investors acquire the cultivation rights that have been granted to the agricultural plots based on Law 7501/1991. Frequently, they overestimate the size of the area by falsifying relevant documents. Subsequently, the Himare Municipality verifies that the land is not agricultural, reclassifies it, and grants permission for construction.
Additionally, the municipality can issue other permits to facilitate a government decision designating an investor as strategic, thereby automatically leading to the declassification of the land. The municipality’s influence extends beyond these actions. The mayor’s signature is required to establish coastline boundaries, approve new spatial and urban planning that allows for the construction of large hotel complexes, and designate areas for low or moderate disturbance or high commercial use.
A notable example is a resort built in Draleo, the northernmost part of Himare’s coast in the Palasa area. Until 2011, the location was officially classified as forested land. However, with the municipality’s endorsement, the area was reclassified, and now it features 154 apartments and 94 villas next to an exclusive 1-kilometer beach.
To date, seven additional licenses have been issued for similar resorts along the entire coast of Himare. The residents of Himare who are also members of Albania’s ethnic Greek minority find themselves in despair. Despite their desire to utilize their land, they are unable to do so with the documentation provided by Law 7501/1991. Their only option is often to sell the cultivation rights for a meager amount. Furthermore, they frequently witness encroachment on land that belonged to their ancestors or communal land, with the municipality endorsing these actions. Some of the investors involved in such activities are also relatives of high-ranking government officials.
This dispute between the people of Himare and the central government over control of the municipality has been ongoing for years. Reports from observers of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on all municipal elections since 2000 have consistently highlighted the systematic efforts in Himare to engage in electoral fraud and intimidate the population. No other region in Albania has received such consistent monitoring since 2000.
This also explains why the people of Himare this year rallied around Fredi Beleri’s candidacy. Before Beleri’s election, Jorgo Goro, a member of the governing Socialist Party of Albania, had served as the mayor since 2011.
The presence of the ethnic Greek community in the region provides an advantage for the government of Edi Rama. The government accuses those who raise concerns about the extensive money laundering involving land in Himare as traitors who aim to “Hellenize the region.” By doing so, Rama shifts the focus away from the core issue of corruption and significant financial interests and presents it as a matter of national significance. The recent revelations following Beleri’s arrest shed light on major concerns regarding the independence of the Albanian judiciary, particularly relevant to the European Union, as well as the violation of minority rights, which primarily concerns Greece but also the EU.
Angelos Syrigos is a New Democracy MP and associate professor of international law and foreign policy at Panteion University in Athens.
