Theocharis Lalakos

Delegations from Türkiye and Greece were meeting in Athens yesterday as part of long-standing efforts to improve often tense relations between the two neighbors.

High-ranking Greek and Turkish officials will meet in Athens on Monday, April 22.

The agenda, whose details are not yet known, will focus on the so-called Confidence Building Measures. It is part of the effort to maintain communications between the two NATO allies and avoid tensions.

After a three-year and nine-month hiatus, the meeting on confidence building measures (CBMs) between Greece and Turkey took place on Monday in Ankara, with the two countries agreeing to begin the implementation of the previously agreed-upon measures on the list. 

The Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) between Greece and Turkey will take center stage in the talks scheduled for Monday in Ankara, involving delegations from both countries. 

Ambassador Theocharis Lalakos, the secretary-general of the Foreign Ministry, will lead the Greek delegation, comprising senior officials from both sides.

The Special Court of Tirana will decide on Monday whether Fredi Beleri, the recently-elected ethnic Greek mayor of Himare in southern Albania, and his aide Panteli Kokavesi will be released or if their pretrial detention will continue, sources in the Albanian capital said on Friday.

A temporary lull in Greek-Albanian diplomatic tensions has arisen ahead of the Greek elections after interventions from Washington, Berlin and Brussels.

Diplomatic tensions rose between Athens and Tirana after the arrest and imprisonment of the newly elected ethnic Greek mayor of Himare, Fredi Beleri, just two days before local elections in the neighboring country.

The secretary-general of the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Theocharis Lalakos, is expected to arrive in Albania on Wednesday, acting on the orders of Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, in order to meet with the new mayor of Himara, Dionysis-Fredi Beleri, and his aide Pantelis Kokavessis, who have both been jailed on remand in a Tirana prison, according to diplomatic sources.

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