Fredi Beleris, the New Democracy MEP elected to the last European elections while in prison, remains in prison. An Albanian court has not authorized the release of Beleris, rejecting the appeal of the Greek mayor of the Albanian city of Himare. The politician, who ended up in prison for a corruption case, is the only MEP who was in prison when he was elected to Parliament last June.
Hers is a different fate than that of the Italian anti-fascist activist Ilaria Salis, criminally charged in Hungary with attacking a neo-Nazi. Salis, after her election among the ranks of the Green Left Alliance, was released from house arrest where she was being held in Budapest. Immediately after June 9, she was able to return to Italy thanks to the immunity she gained along with her seat as an MEP. Elected parliamentarians of the European Union enjoy immunity in the 27 member states of the Union, but not in countries outside the bloc such as Albania.
The vote-buying case
Beleris was elected to the European Parliament with the Greek center-right New Democracy (European People’s Party), after being convicted of vote-buying. The MEP, who holds both Greek and Albanian citizenship, was the Albanian opposition party’s candidate in the May 2023 mayoral elections in Himara, a town in southern Albania with a large ethnic Greek population.
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Beleris was arrested two days before the vote for allegedly offering 40,000 Albanian lek (about 395 euros) to buy eight votes. In March this year, he was sentenced to two years in prison. The rejection of his appeal by the Albanian court means he will remain in prison until mid-October next year. Beleris says he is not surprised by the decision. He has long maintained that his case is false and politically motivated, as well as lacking evidence.
Inflaming Greece-Albania tensions
The decision of the Albanian judges has been criticized in Athens, but the decision of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to nominate Beleris continues to raise many disagreements. According to the most critical voices, his election has reawakened ancient disagreements between Greece and Albania. Tirana has been aiming for years to complete the procedure of joining the European Union, but the Greek government opposes it, citing the failure to respect European standards regarding minorities, property rights, and the independence of the judicial system. In Albania, the figure of Beleris is connected to the armed insurrection of the Greek ethnic minority.
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The jailed politician has been a prominent opponent of the Albanian government for years, fighting against the seizure of Greek-owned properties around Himarë. In February, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama protested Beleris’s remarks about his trial: “It makes it seem like Albania is Siberia and that someone in Siberia is being held hostage by a ruthless and bloodthirsty regime.”
Greece’s Blackmail
Beleris is a harsh critic of the Albanian judicial system, while saying he is in favor of Albania’s accession to the EU. However, he demands respect for the Greek minority in the Balkan country. Italy and Germany are two of the countries that say they are in favor of Tirana completing the accession process. Greece, on the other hand, is trying to use Beleris’ trial to slow down enlargement. Months ago, its diplomats said they were ready to block Albania’s request for membership if Rama’s government did not respect Beleris’ rights.
Asked by Politic on this peculiar case, the spokesperson of the European People’s Party, to which New Democracy belongs, and of the European Parliament refused to comment on the case. Beleris, who in the meantime participates in the meetings of New Democracy via teleconference, cannot fully perform his duties as an MEP. He participated in the important vote in Strasbourg on the confirmation of Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission, but he missed the elections in Brussels of the presidencies of the various committees of the European Parliament because in the meantime he had returned to the Albanian prison of Fier.
