George Papandreou: "The Incident in Himara, has politic support"

Strong declaration of Greek PM to Tirana, on the occasion of the recent murder of Aristotel Gumas in Himara

"We think that these incidents are not coincidental. Unfortunately, we see a similar escalation of nationalism seems to the extreme groups, but unfortunately seems to have political background. Who are targeting the Greek minority in Albania, with, of course, tragic incident of murder of Aristotel Goumas, and other acts which show a hostile attitude."

"For us it is a very serious issue. It is first and foremost a serious issue in our bilateral relations, which we want to support positive. It is a serious issue for Albania's European course. Because nationalism does not help in Balkans, helping to neighboring countries. And I would like to send the message to the Albanian side that nationalism has always, always create huge problems, not only between countries but also among citizens." he said.

Although Papandreou has not clearly said, he has hinted that Greece can obscure the process of European integration of Albania, concerning the issue of the Greek minority rights, such as initially, the visa liberalization process.