PM Mitsotakis visits Himare, pledges to steadfastly support ethnic Greek minority

 

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrived in Livadhja and delivered a brief address to over 300 members of the ethnic Greek minority that gathered in the yard of the high school "Lefteris Stalios".

In his address, Mitsotakis appeared optimistic over the signing of an agreement on referring the delimitation of the EEZ with Albania to arbitration and insisted that this was the right way to resolve differences between civilised countries.

Himare

Earlier Mitsotakis visited Himare, Albania, where members of the Greek ethnic minority welcomed him at the seafront in the town.

Mitsotakis, clearly moved, stated that it was a great honour to be the first Greek prime minister to visit Himare.

"The Greek ethnic minority of Albania will have in me a steadfast supporter of your just claims. You are the bridge of friendship between Greece and Albania. I am and will remain a supporter of Albania's European path and it is Albania's duty to fully respect your rights on the issue of self-identification, the  issue of language and in the matter of your property rights," Mitsotakis said, while insisting and offering his personal guarantee that, with a spirit of cooperation, all these issues will be resolved.

Mitsotakis also noted that Greece has "put the adventures behind it" and is now stronger.

Olympic gold medallist Pyrros Dimas accompanied Mitsotakis on his visit to the villages of the Greek minority, calling it a historic day and stressing: "I would have come from the other side of the world, I would not miss it for anything".

Derviçan, welcomed by PM Rama

Mitsotakis pledged to do whatever he can to resolve issues of the Greek ethnic minority in Albania while visiting Derviçan on Thursday.

In a scheduled one-day visit to southern Albania and the ethnic minority there, the Greek PM said that he had a very close collaboration with Albanian PM Edi Rama - who welcomed him at the city's sports field - and appeared optimistic that the outstanding issues would be resolved.

In addition, he reiterated his support for Albania's future accession to the European Union. "Albania deserves to be in the EU, and as Albania prospers, so will our ethnic minority," Mitsotakis said, adding there are extensive opportunities for improving bilateral relations in the economy and in infrastructure.

This is the first visit of a Greek prime minister to the Greek ethnic minority of the area since his father's visit as prime minister in 1991.

Mitsotakis had paid a visit to Tirana for the EU-Western Balkans summit, where he and Rama met on the sidelines, while Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias was on an official visit to Albania on Wednesday and attended a luncheon in his honor by Rama.
 

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