A special reference was made to respect for minority rights at the EU-Western Balkans Summit
ABTTF President: “Why has our country, which is one of the oldest members of the EU and boasts of being the cradle of democracy at every opportunity, persistently not executed the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights regarding our associations in the Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases for the past fifteen years? Why does our country fail to comply with its obligations arising from the European Convention on Human Rights, to which it is a party, despite all the warnings of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and has disregarded the ECtHR judgments and ECtHR case-law for years?’’
In the final declaration of the European Union (EU)-Western Balkans Summit held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on 13 December 2023, it was reaffirmed once again that the EU is fully and unequivocally committed to the EU accession processes of the Western Balkans and in addition, the EU called upon upon the countries of the Western Balkans to guarantee the rights and equal treatment of persons belonging to minorities.
At the summit, our country Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis indicated that the oath of Fredi Beleri, the elected mayor of Himara, a member of the Greek minority living in Albania, and the right to a fair trial are not a bilateral issue between Greece and Albania, but a matter of respect for the rule of law. Emphasizsng that Greece has been and continues to be one of the pioneers of the accession perspective for the Western Balkans, Mitsotakis reiterated his desire for the issue to be resolved.
Fredi Beleri, who was elected Mayor of Himara in the local elections held on 14 May 2023, was arrested on charges of active corruption in the elections. Greece, which links Albania’s membership negotiations with the EU to the imprisonment of elected mayor Beleri, requests Beleri’s prison sentence to be terminated.
“Prime Minister Mitsotakis, once again, ignores our country’s shortcomings in respecting the rule of law and the provisions of international treaties, talking pedantically and sermonising. In that case, shouldn’t one ask him why has our country, which is one of the oldest members of the EU and boasts of being the cradle of democracy at every opportunity, persistently not executed the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights regarding our associations in the Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases for the past fifteen years? Why does our country fail to comply with its obligations arising from the European Convention on Human Rights, to which it is a party, despite all the warnings of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and has disregarded the ECtHR judgments and ECtHR case-law for years? Respect for the rule of law and minority rights is universal and applies not only to EU candidate countries but also to our country, which is one of the 27 Member States of the EU. If our country wants to be consistent in its discourse and practices and set an example for others, it must first look at itself and urgently correct its own bad record regarding respect for the rule of law’’, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
