Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has publicly accused former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of exploiting an "isolated incident" for electoral purposes after private security guards at an environmental protest in Zvërnec, southern Albania, used force on demonstrators — injuring a member of the local Greek minority — and Greece's foreign ministry and Mr. Tsipras's new ELAS party both issued condemnations.
The protest was directed against a controversial multi-billion-dollar luxury resort project near Vlorë. Mr. Rama, responding in an open letter on social media, said Albanian authorities had acted swiftly: the security guards were arrested, the security firm's licence was revoked and the Vlorë police chief was dismissed.
He defended the legality of the project and accused Mr. Tsipras of nationalist positioning ahead of Greek elections.
Mr. Tsipras rejected the nationalism charge in a public rebuttal, citing his signature of the Prespa Agreement — which resolved Greece's long-running dispute with North Macedonia over its name — as evidence of his Balkan peacebuilding credentials.
He said defending the safety and property rights of ethnic Greeks in Albania was a fundamental obligation for any progressive leader, and linked Albania's treatment of its Greek minority directly to its European Union accession prospects.
The Greek Foreign Ministry separately urged Albania to uphold the rule of law, environmental protection and minority property rights.
The dispute injects bilateral tension into a relationship that had been broadly stable, and places Albania's minority rights record under renewed scrutiny as it pursues EU membership.
By Antonis Telopoulos