Does Athens owe Fredi Beleri a candidacy?

I won't get into the discussion of whether putting Fredi Beleri's name on the New Democracy ticket for the upcoming European elections would serve the ruling Greek conservative party's interests; it would, in spades. The issue at hand is whether it would be in the best interest of this country for Himare's mayor-elect to have a voice in the European Parliament, meaning a voice for the ethnic Greek minority of Albania.

What it looks like is that Greece's Foreign Ministry is trying to offset one mistake by making another. First of all, it has failed and continues to fail to get a proper reading of Edi Rama. The Albanian prime minister has chosen which camp he's in and it is not on Greece's side. This is why he pushed the Beleri affair as far as he did, a development that took the Greek side by surprise and also exposed its diplomatic shortcomings. I don't know whether the mistakes in analyzing developments in Albania are due to executive or political factors in the Foreign Ministry; what matters is that Beleri has spent nearly a year in prison and Rama is planning his next moves for the sacking of the predominantly ethnic Greek city of Himare. We cannot maintain a balanced position with people who have chosen the path of confrontation.

Putting Beleri forward as a candidate for the European elections is Greece's second chance to stand by the ethnic Greek politician, both morally and politically. We cannot forget the fact that his incarceration in an Albanian prison is the result of a blatant plot against him, both because he won the local elections against Rama's preferred pick and because he's an ethnic Greek.

It is, therefore, a mistake from a political perspective that instead of exposing this plot to everyone in Europe, we are sitting here wondering what the Germans or the Americans will think of us putting their protege, the Albanian prime minister, on the spot. The bottom line is that it is unflattering, to say the least, for a government and a major political party to draw up a candidate list based on how its friends and allies may react – if they react at all.

Edi Rama would indeed find himself on the spot if Beleri were named a candidate and even more so if he were elected. But that would be the result of his own choices, and there is no reason for us to care. He chose the path of confrontation with Athens – and not just on this particular matter – so he should bear the consequences until he changes tune.

In politics, the strong party needs to flex its muscles when this becomes necessary; otherwise, its power gradually wanes and is cast into doubt. In this region, Greece is the stronger state – if only the decision makers acknowledged it too. The attitude of seeking to maintain a balance at any cost leads to an impasse in the best case, and a defeat in the worst. And let's admit it: When it comes to the Beleri case, we are losing.

This is the big picture – and it is so terribly clear that we have to wonder why those making the decisions don't see it too. All we can do now is hope that they don't make yet another mistake.