FILE - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks next to Fredis Beleris, left, during his visit to the ethnic Greek minority of Albania, in Himare, on Thursday Dec. 22, 2022. Fredis Beleris, an ethnic Greek politician jailed in Albania for vote-buying, says he hopes his election this month to the European Parliament will help boost the rule of law in Albania. Beleris told The Associated Press in an interview from prison that he would have preferred to serve as mayor of the southern Albania community he was elected to lead last year, before his arrest and conviction. His case has soured relations between Balkan neighbors Greece and Albania. (Dimitris Papamitsos/Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP, File)
Vangjel Dule, the leader of the Unity for Human Rights Party, a party of ethnic Greek minority, left, arrives at the court in Tirana, Albania, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. An Albanian appeals court on Tuesday upheld a two-year prison sentence for an elected mayor of the country's Greek minority, in a move expected to further exacerbate tension with neighboring Greece. The appeals court declined to change the verdict of the court of first instance in March on Dhionisios Alfred Beleris, 51, who was imprisoned on charges of vote-buying in municipal elections last year. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
Greek ambassador to Tirana Konstantina Kamitsi speaks to the press outside a court in Tirana, Albania, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. An Albanian appeals court on Tuesday upheld a two-year prison sentence for an elected mayor of the country's Greek minority, in a move expected to further exacerbate tension with neighboring Greece. The appeals court declined to change the verdict of the court of first instance in March on Dhionisios Alfred Beleris, 51, who was imprisoned on charges of vote-buying in municipal elections last year.(AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
FILE - Fredis Beleris looks on as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits to the ethnic Greek minority of Albania, in Himare, Albania, on Dec. 22, 2022. Fredis Beleris, an ethnic Greek politician jailed in Albania for vote-buying, says he hopes his election this month to the European Parliament will help boost the rule of law in Albania. Beleris told The Associated Press in an interview from prison that he would have preferred to serve as mayor of the southern Albania community he was elected to lead last year, before his arrest and conviction. His case has soured relations between Balkan neighbors Greece and Albania. (Dimitris Papamitsos/Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP, File)
Petros Beleris son of Dhionisios Alfred Beleris, speaks to the press outside a court in Tirana, Albania, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. An Albanian appeals court on Tuesday upheld a two-year prison sentence for an elected mayor of the country's Greek minority, in a move expected to further exacerbate tension with neighboring Greece. The appeals court declined to change the verdict of the court of first instance in March on Dhionisios Alfred Beleris, 51, who was imprisoned on charges of vote-buying in municipal elections last year. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
Supporters of Beleris stand outside a court in Tirana, Albania, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. An Albanian appeals court on Tuesday upheld a two-year prison sentence for an elected mayor of the country's Greek minority, in a move expected to further exacerbate tension with neighboring Greece. The appeals court declined to change the verdict of the court of first instance in March on Dhionisios Alfred Beleris, 51, who was imprisoned on charges of vote-buying in municipal elections last year.(AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)