Greek Foreign ministry on new Albanian certificates

(ANA-MPA) -- The removal of designations of a holder's ethnic origin from new certificates issued by Albania was a decision that raised questions regarding its motives, Greek foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras stressed on Thursday.

The spokesman pointed out that the decision reversed the practice of decades and he also noted delays in completing a census of Albania's population due to pressures from nationalist circles opposed to the inclusion of questions on ethnic origin, language and religion.

Combined, these two developments gave the impression that Albanian government decisions were slowly falling in with the dictates of extremist nationalist elements that disputed the existence of ethnic minorities in the neighbouring country and systematically undermined bilateral relations between Albania and Greece, Delavekouras said.