FIRST REACTIONS BY GREEK OPPOSITE ABOUT CENSUS IN ALBANIA

Greece, the opposition: Albania prevents the registration of minority Greece, the opposition: Albania minoritetit

ATHENS-The registration prevents the census process in Albania has sparked opposition from the Greek. Chairman of the Department of Foreign Policy of the New Democracy Party, Konstantinos Gioulekas MP, calls unacceptable the fact that exactly Albania, which according to him seeking help Greece to enter the EU, in turn prevents the registration of the Greek minority. In a statement the Foreign Department of the party "New Democracy" said:

"it with an unprecedented legislative initiative by the Albanian government, has implemented methods that do not allow residents of Northern Epirus, to express their national identity and religious in the next census. It is unacceptable that Albania, which requires the support of Greece to assist entry into the European Union, follows the policies of the Cold War, blackmails for Northern Epirus and violates the rights of its residents. " Further the statement follows: "How to apply laws that impose sanctions to all Albanian citizens during deklarimimit nationality and religion, if the latter are different from those that appear in the records?" He noted that "this law includes the period before 1990, when the dictatorial regime of Enver Hoxha and Ramiz Alia had changed nationality to thousands vorioepiriotë arbitrarily and without the will of the people."

According to the statement, "Implementation of this law prevents thousands of Northern Epirus to declare their Greek origin in the next census." Greek official, stated that the procedure for future population census in Albania raises many questions, to ensure transparency and objectivity of the census in Albania, among other things, he asks:

Presence of foreign observers during the registration, but also during the counting and publication of results Results of the census data included in the records, to replace residents who had been arbitrarily removed the Greek citizenship To inventoried all Albanian citizens living inside and outside the country, asked the relatives of older people to record their Inventory can take more than a month, in order to be included in as many Albanians as possible This statement of the Department of Foreign Affairs of New Democracy, was after a trip to the Greek opposition lawmaker Konstantin Gioulekas made in Gjirokastra and other nearby areas.