EU delegation head in Tirana, Romana Vlahutin. Photo: LSA/Adnan Beci

Albanian police on Wednesday arrested a journalist, Kastriot Myftaraj, for calling on people to kill the Croatian head of the EU Delegation to Albania, Romana Vlahutin.

The arrest follows posts on his Facebook page on May 7, when Myftaraj published an article which said: “Every Albanian who loves his country can kill Romana, and this is going to be an anti-terrorist attack, not a terrorist one.”

The journalist accused Vlahutin of lending unconditional support to the centre-left government of Prime Minister, Edi Rama, of plotting against the opposition and of trying to create a movement called “New Yugoslavia”. Myftaraj also implied that she has links to billionaire magnate and philanthropist George Soros.

Albanian police on Wednesday confirmed the arrest in accordance with the criminal code, which stipulates penalties of up to three years in jail for inciting violence against the constitutional order.

“Myftaraj published an article in which he makes open calls for violent acts against the constitutional order,” the police statement read.

The journalist was freed a few hours after his arrest on Wednesday, as the prosecutors did not find him responsible for any criminal wrongdoings.

The European Commission told BIRN in a statement in Thursday that the use of threats to attempt to intimidate the Head of the EU Delegation to Albania, and the delegation’s staff, will not be tolerated.

“Calls for violence and hate speech are unacceptable,” the statement read, also stating that the Commission trust that Albanian authorities and citizens will take a clear stance against this type of threat.

Vlahutin was appointed EU representative to Albania in 2014. Attacks on her began in the media after she took a strong stance in support of the judicial reform process that is underway in Albania, which the EU supports but which the main opposition Democratic Party has condemned as biased.

*This article was amended on May 11 to include the response from the European Commission and information about the release of Myftaraj.