Democratic Party Chairman Sali Berisha commented Greek Prime Minister Kyriako Mitsotakis’ recent visit to Albania, saying he is welcome to every part of the country, but Himara is not a Greek minority region.

“The Prime Minister of Greece, a friendly and partner country, may visit every part of Albania, either officially or privately. We must be free of any complexes here. He may visit Himara and any other region”, Berisha said in his weekly press conference today.

“But, the noise that Himara is a minority (region) is the biggest absurdity in history. No one has shed more blood than the Himariots did for their Albanian national identity. Undeniably, a number of villages speak both Albanian and Greek languages. The town, like every other port town, has mix population, mostly Albanian, but also Greeks, Venetians. Neither these languages nor the mixtures make Himara anything else but a bastion of Albanianism”.

“Himara along with the Alps highlands and Suli have had their own codices and Kanuns (Albanian customary laws. What I can say is this: the patriarchate should apologize publicly to the Himariots because when they stood up against the (Ottoman High) Porte the patriarchate flirted at their expense, which forced them to turn to the Vatican and make a modification in their faith, to remain Orthodox close to the Catholic rite”, Berisha explained.

“In this context, the Greek Prime Minister may visit any region, but Himara with all its history and documents is Albanian, including the bilingual villages”.