CIA sees instability in the Balkans – Greek minority member murdered by Albanian Special Forces – This is how the plan for Greater Albania unfolds
During the “Anniversary of the No”, a day that is celebrated throughout Greece, Cyprus and the Greek communities around the world on 28 October each year, Constantine Katsifas was killed by the Albanian special force RENEA.
No Day commemorates the rejection by Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on 28 October 1940, the Hellenic counterattack against the invading Italian forces at the mountains of Pindus during the Greco-Italian War, and the Greek Resistance during the Axis occupation.
Katsifas was killed by Albanian fire, defending the Greek cemetery in Vouliarates, a village in Northern Epirus (the Albanians claim the region as southern Albania).
The murder, coupled with the climate in the Balkans and the strong relations between Albania and Kosovo, clear the air, for a larger plan that leads the Balkans step by step in serious crisis.
A declassified CIA report warns of the chances of a very high instability in the Balkans, which may be caused by the mistreatment of the Greek minority in Albania.
The report stresses that this instability may be detrimental to US interests.
The June 1994 report was designed and executed during a period of intense tensions between the two countries following a violent border intervention in April of the same year.
Two Albanian soldiers were killed by a little-known Greek nationalist organization, the Northwest Liberation Front (MABH).
The report then highlighted the US’s concern to support post-communist Albania, which was seen as its closest ally to the Balkans.
Although, the current crisis that occurred after the assassination of Constantine Katsifa in 28th October (Α national day for Greece) is different. The document highlights the American thought of a possible Greek-Albanian conflict now and/or in the future.
In 1994, Greece strongly criticized the Albanian behavior against the Greek minority, while Tirana expressed fears that Athens had plans to occupy the Greek minority region in southern Albania.
The CIA report said that a crisis on the issue of the minority would lead to retaliation in Greece, which “could destabilize the pro-American government of Tirana for the benefit of the former Communists.”
“Continuing tensions with Greece would also have a negative internal impact on Albania,” said in a statement to policy makers in Washington on strategic relations with the former communist country.
He adds that the Greek population of Albania “could become the focus of a serious and destabilizing crisis between the two countries.”
Although CIA analysts have not found evidence that Albania is pursuing a policy of systematic intimidation of the Greek minority or attempting to expel Greeks, they underlined that “some Greeks’s complaints against Tirana are legitimate.”
The report acknowledged that the Greeks are being harassed by the Albanian authorities in matters relating to education and under-representation in police and military.
Greek minorities have been excluded from funded education in “minority areas” in the south of Albania (Northern Epirus), where the majority of Greeks live, according to the report.
There was only one “Greek presence in the Albanian police and army” and virtually no Greek was in positions of power.
The Greeks also complained about the refusal of the Albanian government to return large areas of land previously belonging to the Orthodox Church.
If tensions remain the Greek minority in Albania, it will become a target of forced “ethnic cleansing”, while Athens will be subject to intense public pressure for more extreme action, including military action, “the US report warns.
On the other hand, the report says that Tirana’s concerns about perceived Greek irresponsibility would push the Albanian authorities to curb Greek minority political activities, which would probably be controlled by Athens.
The report also warned Greece that, in the long run, mutual hostility would undermine its ambitions to take political and economic leadership in the region.
https://southfront.org/cia-sees-instability-in-the-balkans-greek-minority-member-murdered-by-albanian-special-forces-this-is-how-the-plan-for-greater-albania-unfolds/