A new and more positive dynamic for the bilateral relations between Greece and Albania is possible, was the message that Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias conveyed in his statement to the media, during his official visit to Albania.
Dendias visited Tirana on Tuesday to kick start efforts once again for the settlement of important bilateral issues in dialogue with the Albanian counterpart. He was received by Prime Minister Rama, President Meta, opposition leader Lulzim Basha and Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Cakaj.
In a press conference with PM Rama, both authorities declared that the key outstanding issue, that of the delineation of the maritime border and exclusive economic area will be resolved by taking it to the international law authorities, more specifically to the International Court of Justice at the Hague. Rama said that the “international expertise would help to cross all t-s” whereas Dendias said he was “happy that the agreement would be based on the UN Convention which both countries have signed.”
There has not been an agreement on the issue since the Constitutional Court of Albania overturned the one reached in 2009. Negotiations had resumed in 2017 but were interrupted also because Albania at the time, just as now, does not have a functional Constitutional Court due to the effects of the justice reform. Since then Greece has had a new government and Albania a new Acting Minister of FA.
Experts differ in their evaluation of this strategy with some applauding the involvement of an international third party and some arguing that this will ultimately benefit Greece, whose experience and expertise in similar cases puts it in clear advantage.
Rama called against nationalistic drum beating of the people claiming that “the sea was being invaded by Greece”, responding to the media debate in Albania regarding the announcement that Grece was expanding its border to 12 miles from the coastline.
Dendias in the press conference said he had specific instructions from the Greek PM Mitsotakis that the “anachronic issue of the Law of War” had to be addressed and solved quickly, something that was immediately appreciated from Rama as very good news.
Finally Dendias also said that the progress of Albania on minority issues, an old and sensitive controversy going back and forth between Albania and Greece, was very satisfactory.
A protest was held in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana by the Party of Justice, Integration and Unity (PDIU) which called for the rights of the Cham population displaced forcefully from Greece at the end of WWII. The protest was dispersed by the police as against the rules of the pandemics and several people were taken to the police headquarters, including the Albanian representative of Vetevendosje, Bojken Abazi.
Observers are cautiously optimistic about the potential for a new reset in the strategic bilateral relations between two countries. Despite the numerous issues, Greece has always backed the European integration perspective of Albania , something that was noted during this visit as well.
