On Wednesday, members of a group calling itself the “patriotic movement ‘Sons of Labëria’” held a protest demanding the resignation of the Greek consul in Gjirokastra, accusing him of collaborating in the denationalization of Albanians.
About 20 people were detained by the police.
The protest follows a video recording posted by a member of the Greek minority in Albania, Manolis Vitos from Finiq, that depicted the Albanian flag in flames.
The video voice-over claims: “We are in Saranda, in Vorios Ipiros [Northern Epirus], and I found this rag. Watch it burn. Where are the Albanian patriots and nationalists?”
According to Albania’s anti-terror agency, the video was recorded a year ago, though it was posted on Facebook on June 16, 2020.
On June 7, members of the group burned the North Epirus flag in a Kelcyra cemetery where the bodies of 21 Greek soldiers killed during the Greek-Italian war are buried. They demanded a monument erected in memory of a Greek general killed during that war be removed by the authorities.
