Himara

Edi Rama’s chosen candidate, Vangelis Tavos, won the elections in Himara to succeed Fredi Beleris, the elected mayor and now MEP who remains in prison.

The vote counting began shortly after midnight at the electoral commission center in Himara‘s football stadium to determine the successor of Fredi Beleris, the elected mayor and current MEP who remains in prison.

In alert within the Hellenic National Minority in view of the upcoming elections in the municipality of Himara is caused by the candidacy of Vangelis Tavos who is supported by Edi Rama after the removal of Beleri.

The authorities in Albania proceeded with the removal of Fredi Beleris from his position as Mayor of Himara.

A court in Albania decided on Saturday to detain until his trial an ethnic Greek mayoral candidate in the southern Albanian municipality of Himara, Fredi Beleri, after he was charged with vote-buying.

A Greek expatriate mayoral candidate in the southern Albanian municipality of Himara, Fredi Beleri, was arrested at midnight on Thursday by the Albanian police outside his business premises on suspicion of paying people for their votes, causing strong condemnation from officials in Athens.

Albanian police have demolished a contested church dedicated to St Athanas in the southern village of Dhermi, angering the Orthodox Church and neighbouring Greece, which supports the Church's mission.

The Orthodox Church called it a vandalistic act of desecration and a violation of church property. Greece said the Albanians were behaving like Islamist extremists.

Albania minorities object to territorial division

Civil society groups in Albania call for a referendum on reversing the country's new territorial reorganisation to diffuse ethnic tensions.

The Macedonian minority representatives in Albania meet at Pustec municipality. [Courtesy of Municipality of Pustec]

Albania has changed the face of local government after MPs on Thursday adopted a reorganisation bill, radically reducing the number of town halls.

Albania's main opposition party has slated plans to drastically cut the number of rural and urban municipalities from 350 to 61, three of which will be ethnic minority municipalities.

If the law is passed on July 31, it will be Albania’s first territorial administrative reform since 1992, following the collapse of the Communist regime.