TIRANA, June 26 – According to Albania’s former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, the new maritime border agreement between Albania and Greece – the third round negotiations of which concluded on Saturday – is an attempt by current PM Edi Rama to fraction Albania’s borders a second time.
In a local media interview with journalist Joldiz Mitro, Berisha said that if the new maritime border agreement between Greece and Albania is signed, it could lead to a new Balkan war in the region.
“What Edi Rama with Bushati are cooking is a new fraction of Albania’s borders, which can ignite the flames of a Balkan conflict if it persists,” Berisha said during his interview.
Berisha said he was aware of the negotiations’ details due to some “patriotic elements” in the negotiation group.
“It is a new fragmentation of Albanian territories, after 1913. Then, the fragmentation came from the big powers while this time it’s coming from the Albanian painter,” Berisha said, referring to Rama and Albania’s Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati.
Referring to a statement made by Greek Minister of Defense Panos Kammenos couple of weeks ago that Greece will expand its territory, Berisha said it is tied to the Albanian people, as “Greece will expand on our territories’ backs.”
Berisha believes this agreement will be disastrous for Albania also based on a former allegation made by him that the Greek side has set non-negotiable terms concerning the agreement.
“If he lets go of a few kilometers, the Greeks gain oil and natural gas. I call on Albanians to protect the borders being defined by the painter,” Berisha concluded.
Meanwhile, the country’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs made a short publication on the finalization of the negotiations’ third round on Saturday, saying it took place in a “friendly and cooperative climate” and that “negotiation groups will continue working in order to find a solution that is stable and of interest to both parties.”
Official talks between the respective parties began at the end of April, following a lengthy process between the Presidency of the Republic and the Foreign Ministry to obtain authorization from the country’s President Ilir Meta.
The previous 2009 agreement was overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2010, because it was found to violate the constitution and international conventions.
Although the dialogue initiated last fall has addressed a number of open-ended issues between the two countries, there has been little to no transparency concerning the widely debated maritime border agreement, which has already been contested once when Berisha’s administration attempted to solve it back in 2009.