The recent tension in Svernītsa, Albania brings back into focus the systematic refusal of the neighboring state to return properties to their rightful owners, members of the Greek national minority. Despite the assurances of the Rama government, reality reveals that there is a methodical land grab operation aimed at the economic and demographic weakening of Hellenism in the region. In short, it uses the property issue as a tool to drive out ethnic Greeks from their homes.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama appeared over the weekend to “ignore” the existence of Greeks in Svernītsa, a statement contradicted by a report from his own government already from 2016 to the Council of Europe, which recorded 920 Greeks in Svernītsa and 4,200 in neighboring Narta. This hypocrisy was accompanied by the violent incidents of last weekend, where private security companies, acting on behalf of “investors,” prevented residents from accessing their properties and the coastline. This adverse discrimination aims to force indigenous residents to emigrate, cutting them off from their homeland.
Syrigos: Albania is the only former communist country that has not yet returned properties to its citizens
The problem of non-return of properties to Greek ethnic minorities is not accidental, but serves specific purposes. One only needs to consider that in all former communist states the property issue was resolved decades ago, while Albania constitutes a sad exception. According to Professor of International Law, Angelos Syrigos, “the area of Narta and Svernītsa outside Vlorë is simply indicative of the much larger issue that exists with Greek properties in Albania. Albania is the only former communist country that has not yet returned properties to its citizens. In areas inhabited by citizens of Albanian origin, the return of properties reaches a rate of 60%. In areas inhabited by Greek minorities it varies. In the areas of Gjirokastër and Sarandë the rate is from 20% to 30%. However, in areas that have very high tourist interest, such as Himarë, Narta, Svernītsa, the rate is up to 10%. This is discriminatory treatment against the minority and Albania will find it in front of it during its accession process.”
Mr. Syrigos clarifies to parapolitika.gr the legal status of these properties. As he points out, when the communist regime collapsed, law “7501 of 1991” was passed, which gave agricultural plots of 3,000 sq.m. to all citizens, Albanians and Greek ethnic minorities, with the right of cultivation. These are also considered property titles. Since then, the regime has been based on the same law to confirm which land is agricultural and which is decharacterized and allows construction. The latest law, “20 of 2020,” concerned “the regularization of property rights.” It distinguished between houses that are already inhabited and agricultural land, for which cultivation rights were given in 1991. Since then, Rama, who voted for the law, six years later refuses to have implemented it.
The policy implemented by the Albanian government today is based on the law on “strategic investments,” with deliberate delays in registering titles in the Land Registry. The law allows the state to expropriate plots for one euro per square meter in favor of “investors,” who are often domestic major contractors or individuals connected to organized crime and money laundering. As New Democracy MEP Fredy Beleri had mentioned in his article, it is characteristic that in 2024, out of the 4 billion euros of construction turnover, only 800 million were handled through banks.
“Property titles are a forgery party”
Ethnic Greek MP and President of the Union for Human Rights, Vangelis Doules, who yesterday was at the 5th large demonstration in Tirana against the Rama government, conveys to parapolitika.gr the government manipulation: “All the policies that have been implemented and the decisions that have been taken so far have literally stripped the residents of Narta and Svernītsa of their property. And at this moment this issue is being dynamically presented. There have been lawsuits in the past, there have been disputes, but there has been no result. At the mortgage registry office of the Vlorë region, for example, where this specific area falls under, as well as Himarë, 17 directors have changed in a period of 2.5 years. They have either resigned because they could not take responsibility for the actions required by Mr. Rama or they have been prosecuted by the prosecuting authorities on charges of corruption. It has turned into a forgery party for property titles. And we must not forget, beyond the case of this specific one, which is now a front-page topic in developments in Albania, that the wider area, here we are talking about the Adriatic, but mainly the wider coastal area of the Ionian, is subject to alteration of the property regime to the detriment of the rightful owners, mostly of Greek origin, and in favor of Mr. Rama’s clientelist interests. The owners have been trying all these years, imagine, 36 years, a generation has been struggling and cannot restore its rights to the properties it inherited from its ancestors. The properties were confiscated in 1945 and after. After 1990 the process of return, restoration of properties began. And from 1990 to 2026 no one has managed to secure their properties. This is done to lead the rightful owners to despair and desperation. Either to proceed with the advance sale of their properties to middlemen of Mr. Rama’s regime or to give up entirely on their efforts.”
The European Union and Greece are called upon to intervene decisively. MEP Fredy Beleri has already raised the issue with the European Commission, denouncing the intimidation of residents and the violation of property rights. The EU’s timeline for completing property registration by 2030 is considered “a midsummer night’s dream.” The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has communicated to Tirana that keeping promises on the property issue must be an inflexible condition for Albania’s accession process, so that the operation to alter the minority’s property map stops.
It is worth noting that, due to the situation prevailing in the Svernītsa area, there was concern among ethnic Greeks about the fate of the Byzantine Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos, located on the island of Svernītsa in the Narta Lagoon. Until Saturday the fence did not allow access. Today, however, part of the fence has been removed. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs appears reassuring, noting: “We are monitoring the situation and are in contact with ecclesiastical and other competent authorities. At present, there is no specific issue that needs to be raised regarding the Monastery.”
