TIRANA, April 5 – The Albanian government approved on Thursday an amendment in a previous Council of Ministers ruling that foresaw the state-ownership of the country’s southern coastline so that private investors can eventually build resorts along it.
The ruling, dating February 27, was published in the government’s Official Book and was later deleted, also due to pressure from neighboring Greece, as there is Greek minority living in Himara whose properties would be affected under the law.
On Thursday, the government approved the law’s suspension only for the part of the coastline starting from Vlora and ending in Saranda – which includes all the locations inhibited by Greek minority landowners.
Moreover, the amendment still foresees the land’s registration under the Ministry of Tourism, but only after the mortgaging process for the area’s private properties has concluded.
“Real estate properties according to Point 1, located in the areas where the initial registration hasn’t concluded, will register under the administrative responsibility of the Ministry of Tourism, after the initial registration process of the private properties located at the cadastral areas included in this ruling has been finalized,” said the ruling approved on Thursday by the Council of Ministers.
On Monday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told the media he’d been informed of “negative developments” concerning the Greek minority living in Albania, and that, given it was true, it could affect Albania’s EU path, which is also determined by Greece’s support as a EU member state.
A day later, the CM ruling was deleted from the government’s Official Book, while on Thursday Greek national TV ERT reported Tsipras and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama even had a phone call regarding this particular issue.
According to ERT, Tsipras and Rama spoke about the necessary reforms for Albania’s opening of EU accession talks, however it was also reported the core of the conversation was the draft law which affects the Greek minority’s properties and Tsipras’ ultimatum for it to be amended.
However, the amendment that will allow private property owners to finalize mortgaging processes will not be applied to the other parts of the coastline – a fact which, just as the February 27 ruling itself, has drawn criticism from political experts and international representatives in Albania alike.
For over a year, the government has scanned the most profitable areas and on Friday published in its Official Book at least 67 maps with all areas that will guide local units to suspend passing agricultural land ownership to ex-agricultural enterprise benefitors, for those areas prioritized for tourism development.
This “state ownership” of property by law has been criticized from political experts as anti-democratic and worrying, while anonymous sources told Tirana Times the law – and its amendment – did not go unnoticed by a number of ambassadors to Tirana.
