Chaonia

Greek officials are pressing Albania to address concerns about the integrity of Sunday's local elections in the southwestern town of Himare.

Freddi Beleri, the town's previously elected mayor and a member of the ethnic Greek minority, was removed from office, convicted of vote-buying, and jailed. Both he and Greece have alleged that the case was politically motivated.

A Science Week on the Sarandaporos River starts this Friday, June 28, an international initiative to protect and preserve Aoos/Vjosa, the last large free-flowing river in Europe.

Fredi Beleri, the mayor-elect of the predominantly ethnic Greek city of Himare in southern Albania and elected MEP, is due on Tuesday to hear the verdict of his appeal against a conviction for vote-buying in last year's local polls.

It was seen as no surprise in Greece that the final decision on the appeal of jailed ethnic Greek mayor Fredi Beleri was deferred on Friday to the Special Court of Appeal of Tirana later this month, namely on June 25. 

In a devastating incident in southern Albania, eight people lost their lives, including seven suspected migrants, in a car crash early this morning while attempting to evade police pursuit, as reported by AFP.

The municipal council of Himare in southern Albania appointed Blerina Bala as the new acting mayor of the town on Friday, following the detention of Jorgo Goro.

Goro, affiliated with the ruling Socialist Party, was arrested last week on charges of alleged abuse of office, which he denies.

Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said on Wednesday that the case of Fredi Beleri, a mayor from Albania's Greek minority who was recently sentenced to two years in prison for buying votes, should be viewed as a European concern rather than a bilateral issue between the two Balkan neighbors.

Albanian prosecutors said Saturday they ordered the arrest of the mayor of a seaside tourist town in the country's south on corruption charges.

The elected mayor of Himarra was sentenced to two years in prison after an unprecedented, even for Albanian standards, staged trial - The government's next moves

Following the Tuesday conviction of ethnic Greek mayor Fredi Beleri in Albania over alleged vote-buying, sources from within the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday expressed their concern over the rule of law in Albania and the objectivity of its justice system.