Statement by the Representative of the Ministry of the fatal killing of Greek expatriates in Himare

Athens, August 13, 2010



The Foreign Ministry spokesman Mr. Gregory Delavekouras made the following statement on the fatal killing of Greek expatriates in Himare:


"According to official information provided by the Albanian police in the Greek Embassy in Tirana, Aristotle Goumas, 35, American descent, residing in Albania Himara mortally wounded voluntarily last night in the town of torrents. This is the information that the perpetrators had been ethnically motivated messed within the Greek ethnic minority in Albania.


Unacceptable criminal actions like this are intended to stimulate ethnic tension with unpredictable consequences and undermine the bilateral relations between Greece and Albania. It must be condemned by the entire Albanian society and its political representatives. The Albanian Government should ensure the proper and expeditious administration of justice, which serves as the only practical response to the legitimate concerns of the Greek national minority.


The Greek Embassy in Tirana asked the Albanian authorities to fully investigate the conditions under which it was crime, apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Relevant to the deceased express sincere condolences.

The Foreign Ministry is closely monitoring and consistently all matters relating to the Greek Ethnic Minority in Albania and stressed that respecting and protecting the rights and safety of members of the minority, in addition to mandatory obligation of the Government of Albania for its citizens, resultingboth the conventional international law and the acquis communautaire, integration in Albania is seeking.