From prison in Albania, to the European Parliament as deputy of Greece who is Alfred Beler?

Alfred Beler's election as European Parliament MP prompted controversy both over his legitimacy and the impact of his case on Albania's European integration.

Beler, the president-elect of the Himara municipality in Albania, but sentenced to two years in prison for stealing votes, won a seat in the European Parliament as representative of the ruling party in Greece, New Democracy.

Lawyers and international relations experts say his case raises constitutional and legal concerns.

According to them, it could affect Albania's efforts for membership in the European Union as well as its relations with Greece.

At the Greek minority association in Albania “Omonia”, however, believe its legal issues in Albania will be resolved before the European Parliament's institution.

Beler, according to Greek media, ranks fourth among the seven deputies who secured Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's New Democracy in the European Parliament elections.

According to their reports, he participated through the video connection from prison at a Mitsotakis meeting with elected Eurodeputs, which was held Tuesday.

Is Beler's election problematic MEP?

The Greek Foreign Ministry did not answer Radio Europe's free question about what it now expects regarding Beler's election. Likewise, the party of Greek Prime Minister New Democracy.

REL also asked Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to comment on his choice, but he declined.

I have no comment on it. I am in Pristina”, Rama said on June 10th, while attending an event for marking the 25th anniversary of Kosovo's liberation.

Well, unfortunately, one of the things we can't do in this case is we're still not in the European Union. So, when we go to the EU, when we have elections for the European Parliament, we will better understand what these jobs are like”, Rama said.

In the past, Rama has dismissed the claims of Beler and the Greek minority in Albania that the case against him is political. According to Rama, it's just a matter of justice.

The lawyer and former deputy chairman of Albania's Supreme Council of Justice, Kreshnik Spahiu, sees contradictions in Beler's choice of two different posts.

The Central Election Commission and the president should have announced early elections in Himara after New Democracy declared [Belerin] a candidate. Because, the Law on Local Government thus defines”, he says of Radio Free Europe.

“Actually, [Beller] presumptions innocent, as there is no decision to cut. I think the criminal process should be accelerated and the Court of Appeals can be expressed if it is guilty or innocent”, he adds.

Radio Free Europe addressed Albania's presidency on the issue on June 10th, but it took time to respond, while at the Central Election Commission, they said that with the announcement of the final result, including the mandate of this commission's work on the process has been completed.

Former head of the Central Election Commission, Christaq Kume, says it will be the Court of Appeals' decision that will give solution to the situation created.

The session will be held on June 14th.

“If convicted, act the law for derimination and suspend its mandate as mayor. This is an issue that has nothing to do with his choice as Eurodeputt”.

If declared innocent, you would need an interpretation of extremis. The mayor's mandate is said to be incompatible with that of the MP, which can be interpreted and éurodoputit], but that the law has not envisioned”, Kume explains Radio Free Europe.

According to him, Beler cannot be both mayors and Eurodeputs he will have to choose.

For me, he had to be allowed to take the oath and the solution would have come a long time ago, because the law says that if three months after the oath doesn't appear in the office, the mayor's mandate is terminated”, says Kume.

The head of the Greek minority association in Albania “Omonia”, Marin Suli, says Beler has declared that, if declared innocent, he will choose the mandate of the mayor of Himara,

But, the fact that Beler is in prison, says Sally, will not pose a deadlock or a problem for him either for the MP's duty.

“Beler completes the two-year sentence on September 12th, according to the estimated conversion of the detention time, while the European Parliament is constitutionalised in late September”, Sul says.

He also explains that with the Constitution of Greece, running in elections is prohibited only when there is a court ruling that strips the individual of the right to race and be elected.

This is not the case with Beler, says Sully.

How will this case affect Albania's European integration?

Former Albanian Ambassador Agim Nesho says Beler's election as European Parliament MP from Greece will have an impact on Albania's path to the European Union, but also on relations between Tirana and Athens.

Beler's “running is a charter the Greek prime minister has played to attract the extreme part of Greek politics to vote on a sensitive issue such as the Greek minority in Albania. Under these conditions, we will have a moment that will not be in Albania's interest and will impact Greece's stance on the country's efforts to integrate into the European Union”, Nesho says of Radio Free Europe.

Prime Minister Rama “should reflect”, he adds.

Albania has formally opened negotiations for EU membership. But decisions on expanding the bloc -- where Greece is part of -- deal with the consensus of all member states, currently 27.

For Spahiun, the Beler issue will have no impact on Albania's integration path.

Greece's interests for Himara, he says, are political, economic and geopolitical, writes Radio Free Europe.

The “are political, because through Himara, Greece will be able to establish an association of Greek minority municipalities [in Albania], along with Finic and Dropulin. They are economic interests, because this municipality is the pearl of the Albanian revival and has the longest coastline, being the focus of tourism development in the country. And geopolitical, because all investments of Greek or Russian oligarchs, are generally focused on tourism”, Spahiu says.

So I don't think about Himera being played for Beler as an individual or for corruption with Vote buying, but for interests that cross Albania's borders, for influence either West or East”, he adds.