TIRANA, May 23, 2022 – Greece’s foreign minister has publicly warned Albania in a visit to Tirana that raising issues related to the Cham community will result in Greece throwing up barriers in Albania’s EU membership bid.
The comments came at a joint press conference with Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka who asked that the two countries discuss in the future the property and human rights of the Chams, ethnic Albanians expelled from Greece at the end of WWII.
“Our friendly countries can start discussions on other issues, no matter how difficult we have inherited from the history and from the tragic period of the Second World War, such as … the issue of property and human rights of the Cham community,” Xhacka said.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said no such issues exist and warned that raising them would have multiple consequences on Albania’s European journey.
“This would lead to consequences at multiple levels where Greece will decide other issues related to Albania’s itinerary in Europe,” he said.
The remarks, which garnered much attention in the Albanian press, came at the end of a visit that was likely aimed at mending relations further, after a significant cooling in recent years.
The ministers said the two countries were ready to speed up the procedures to send to the International Court of Justice the issue of delimitation of the maritime border between the two countries.
“We once again confirmed our will to seek a compromise to refer the case to a third judicial party, such as the International Court of Justice,” Xhacka said.
Greek officials have always refused to discuss anything relating to the Chams, but the Albanian side has brought it up several times over the years, as the descendents of the deportees have increasingly gained political power.
The Greek state’s official stance is that the population was expelled due to cooperation with the invading Axis forces, while the Albanian side maintains it was ethnic cleansing aimed at removing Muslim Albanians from Greece. Descendents of up to 35,000 deportees are now seeking to get back their properties in Greece.
The Greek foreign minister seemed more willing to discuss the abrogation of the law of war between the two countries, an oddity remaining in Greek legislation after Italy used occupied Albania’s territory to attack Greece in WWII.
A year and a half ago, during a visit to Tirana and alongside Prime Minister Edi Rama, Minister Dendas described it as “an anachronism,” while Prime Minister Rama expressed confidence that this issue would be closed positively and quickly.
At the same meeting, the two announced the decision that the delimitation of maritime borders be resolved at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, a body of the United Nations.
This week, the Greek foreign minister echoed that goal.
“It is important how we will speed up the steps to meet the technical part in order to file documents as soon as possible in court,” Minister Dendias said.
Submission to the court requires the parties to determine the points of dispute between them for which they will seek the interpretation of the court.
The two countries have started the preparatory stages of the talks that will have to take place afterwards in order to reach an agreement on the document that will be sent to the court.
The meeting also focused on social security and other issues related to facilitating the movement and life of Albanian citizens in Greece, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Greek foreign minister’s meeting was part of a regional tour.
