Greece for Albania in the EU, but on one condition

Greece will support Albania in its ten-year bid to join the European Union, provided it respects the rights of its ethnic Greek minority, said the country's prime minister, Kyriako Mitsotakis.

Ties between the two countries collapsed after Albania arrested ethnic Greek politician Frede Beler during an election campaign for mayor in his hometown of Himara last year and detained him on charges of vote buying.

Beler was released this year after winning a seat in the European Parliament as a candidate for the conservative Mitsotakis party, New Democracy.

Speaking at the signing of a contract for a new road linking the northwestern Greek town of Janina with the Albanian village of Kakajija, Mitsotakis said Greece has always had good relations with its Adriatic neighbour, Reuters reports.

But its support for the small Balkan state's EU bid depends on how quickly it met its old obligations regarding the property and other rights of Albania's ethnic Greek minority, the largest in the country.

“There is a continuing conditioning route towards the European Union, where we are essentially speed regulators with which Albania will walk towards Europe”, Mitsotakis said before travelling to Brussels for an EU-Western Balkans summit.

Albania, along with Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia, was promised EU membership years ago and has been in talks with the EU on how to accelerate the necessary reforms, which will eventually help them join the 27-nation bloc.

But the process has stalled, largely due to slow progress in reforms and also a reduction in appetite among existing EU member states for further expansion.