Greece has condemned the trial of Albania's elected mayor as politically perverse.

Athens, Greece - Greece is threatening to delay Albania's progress toward European Union membership, even as the EU tries to bring more wariness to the stalled accession process for the western Balkans.

The reason is the May 11 arrest of an ethnic Greek mayoral candidate in Himar, a sleepy town of fewer than 10,000 residents on the Adriatic coast with a large ethnic Greek population. "This decision will affect the EU's relations with Albania, which depends on ... European rules and the rule of law," the Greek Foreign Ministry said.

The president of Greece's Council of Ministers, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said last month that the case "overshadows" relations with Albania and'''pivots'' any improvements made. In recent weeks, he visited Albania and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama held an exhibition of his artwork in Athens.

Fredi Beleri was elected mayor while in prison

Fredi Beleri was elected mayor while in prison but was not inaugurated because Albanian courts rejected five of his applications to be released or to take office while in prison. Beleri, who won by a margin of 19 votes, is accused of buying eight of them, and the courts say he may try to interfere with prosecution witnesses, his lawyer told Al Jazeera television. His case will be heard in court on Thursday.

His son Petros Beleri said his arrest was politically motivated. "It made people afraid, especially in the ethnically Albanian villages that are some distance from the town of Himar," Petros Beleri told Al Jazeera TV. "People were afraid and voted for Rama's man. Through this, more than 1,000 votes were lost. The prime minister knew there was a big loss ahead in Himar ... The message that people took was that '\''I dominate in Himar and whoever disagrees will have the same experience\'," added Petros Beleri.

Land ownership problems

Some land ownership problems date back to the communist regime that ruled Albania from 1945 to 1991.'''investors appointed by Rama's cabinet,' Dulles said.

"The measure the mayor can take against strategic investors is extremely limited, but even that is already irritating Rama because the mayor can bring transparency, demand explanations and judicial checks," Dulles said.