FM spokesman on postponement of Albanian census

A Greek foreign ministry spokesman on Thursday referred to a general census in neighbouring Albania, following news that the census was postponed until the autumn instead of the previously scheduled April date.

Spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said the development, “combined with intense reactions by certain nationalist circles and, unfortunately, by some state functionaries, against the inclusion of voluntary questions regarding national origin, religious affiliation and the mother tongue of respondents create questions over the real reasons for the postponement.”

He also reminded that the specific census questions comprise an obligation on the part of the Albanian government towards the EU.