He noted that Albania did not exist as a nation until 1913 when it was patched together by the Great Powers with territory from other nations including the region of Northern Epiros, which has had a Greek identity and population since ancient times. “If anyone has legitimate territorial claims in the Balkans, it is Albania’s neighbors, not Albania,” Mr. Koutoulas said. He expressed the fear that the revived nationalism reflected in Berisha’s statement will lead to renewed hostility and abuse of ethnic Greeks in the country and noted that it was Berisha as president who launched a pogrom against the country’s Greek minority in the 1990s. “The Panepirotic Federation alerted the world then to Berisha’s effort at ethnic cleansing and forced him to end it,” he said. “And we will remain alert to any renewed effort to persecute ethnic Greeks in Albania.” He called on the Greece to be vigilant against the new aggressive policies of Albania, and he urged the American and European governments to take immediate steps to restrain Berisha from taking any action to fulfill his fevered dreams.
