Government reimburses Albanians who were fined by Greece for not traveling due to coronavirus

 Albanian - Greece border checkpoint, Kakavija 

 The Ministry of Finance in Albania announced the start of reimbursement for Albanian citizens who received financial fines due to exceeding the deadlines for staying abroad. These fines were imposed mainly in the period March 10 - June 1 when Albanian citizens were blocked in various European countries due to coronavirus pandemic. Fines ranged from 600 to 1,200 euros and were accompanied by penalties for the right to cross into an EU country.

According to the testimonies of the Albanian citizens themselves, the fines were imposed mainly by the Greek police at the Greek border crossings with Albania, at the time of their return. The Greek side has linked the fines with the exceeding the 90-day stay in a European Union country, while Albanian citizens have claimed that staying out of time was due to coronavirus pandemic and inability to travel to the border.

The Albanian Ministry of Finance asked the penalized Albanian citizens to send electronically the document of the fine, the payment made and an account number to receive the refund. Meanwhile, Albanian citizens will have to follow the path of the Greek courts to cancel the penalty related to their refusal to enter a European Union country for up to 5 years, which has accompanied, in many cases, the fines of the Greek police. Albania, for its part, did not issue penalties for foreign nationals who violated the country's residence deadlines due to coronavirus pandemics..