TIRANA, July 1 – Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will visit Tirana during the second half of this month, as part of a Balkan tour, and he plans to propose several solutions on pending issues between the two countries, several Greek and Albanian media have reported.
A top Greek newspaper, center-right-leaning Kathimerini, reported that Kotzias will present a significant package of proposals in Tirana, starting with a proposal for a technical correction of the maritime treaty signed in 2009, which was later voided by Albania’s Constitutional Court. The newspaper wrote that the Greek government does not accept a renegotiation of the issue, but insists on a political solution of the problem.
The report comes after Kotzias hinted to the package in a speech in London last month.
“Greece and Albania are linked by a rich common past, common dreams and prospects. There are also a lot of problems from the past, as well as from some views of part of the country’s leadership, such as the non-implementation of agreements,” Kotzias said. “We have the desire and the will to solve the problems and overcome any difficulty. We are planning to propose, in the near future, a package of solutions for all the above problems. Realistic.”
The Greek newspaper reports are now offering a peek into the proposals.
One point is reported to be the official abolition of the State of War Law. The Greek government voided the law in 1987, but the decision was never decreed by the then-President Christos Sarxetakis, leaving an awkward WWII-era law standing between the two nations.
The third point has to do with respecting the rights of the ethnic Greek minority, which, the Greek government believes, were seriously violated during the 2011 census. Athens believes the Greek minority in Albania were denied the right to express their nationality. Athens may ask for a new census.
The Greeks are also willing to recognize Kosovo as an independent country, according to Kathimerini.
– Cham issue remains divisive –
Another demand, according to the newspaper is the establishment of three cemeteries for Greek soldiers who died in Albania in World War II. The Greeks also want the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama not to give an official voice to the Cham community’s party, PDIU, according to the newspaper.
“The new partner in the government, the PDIU party … is the ‘successor’ of the Nazi parties from the time when the region was under Nazi occupation,” Kotzias said in a speech last month.
That statement caused anger in Albania beyond the politically-rising Cham community.
PDIU is a member of the ruling Socialist-led coalition and a party that represents Cham Albanians who were expelled and stripped of their citizenship and property in northern Greece at the end of World War II under accusations that they cooperated with the invading Italian and German forces.
The Chams say the accusations were not true and were an excuse to ethnically cleanse the Epirus region of Muslim Albanians while forcefully assimilating Orthodox Albanian Chams.
Hundreds died in what Albanians refer to as “the Cham genocide.” The community held an annual ceremony commemorating the massacres against them this week.
Today, it is unclear how many native non-migrant Albanian speakers remain in Epirus. Greece, an EU member, has in the past expelled and banned entry to Albanian journalists trying to investigate their numbers.
The Cham party’s leader Shpetim Idrizi, was recently appointed deputy speaker of parliament, after PDIU switches sides and joined the Socialist-led coalition earlier this year. Another deputy speaker of parliament, Vangjel Dule of a Greek minority party, resigned in protest.
