TIRANA, Dec. 18 – The Albanian government has decided to fully finance the search for remains and the reburying of Greek soldiers who died on Albanian soil during the Greek-Italian war of 1940.
The move comes one month after the three-day meeting between the Albanian and Greek foreign ministers in Crete, where the issue was discussed.
According to the government, it is up to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Infrastructure to purchase the land where soldiers are to be buried.
The Ministry of Interior will be in charge of the remains’ search mission, assisted by the relevant municipalities and Greek experts.
It is not yet specified which municipalities are included in the search mission, but it is known that, presently, the Greek soldiers’ cemeteries in the country are located in Bularat, Gjirokastà«r and in Kà«lcyrà«, Pà«rmet.
Meanwhile, the government has decreed that officials from all municipalities where Greek soldiers have died need to ensure the necessary infrastructure for this initiative. All expenses of finding and burying the soldiers’ remains will be financed by Albania’s state budget, and their memory will also be annually commemorated through a national ceremony every Nov. 28, Albania’s national day.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias commented on the decision, saying that diplomacy can go a longer way in bridging differences between the two countries than protests ever will.
“I think the law approved by the Albanian Council of Ministers … is a big step towards what we metaphorically call ‘resting the souls of the fallen’, but it is also a step of trust between our countries,” Kotzias said.
This decision comes at a time Albania is expecting the initiation of EU accession negotiations and looking to flatten some of the past disagreements with neighboring Greece.
Finding and burying Greek soldiers who died in Albania has long been a hot topic between the two countries and has even resulted in verbal clashes in the past.
Fascist Italy launched a doomed invasion of Greece in 1940 using occupied Albania’s territory. The Greeks pushed the Italians back into Albania before Nazi Germany intervened to help its Italian allies.
