TIRANA, March 1 – Albania’s President Ilir Meta has once more asked the ministry of foreign affairs clarifications regarding its request for the president to authorize the negotiations group to move forward with the new maritime border agreement.
The first request was sent to Meta over two weeks ago, but the president said it lacked some constitutional elements which have previously stood in the way of the 2009 maritime border agreement negotiated by then Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
During a talk-show interview, Meta said he never rejected giving authorization, but rather adhered to the constitutional procedure which foresees certain elements must be fulfilled to move forward.
A lot of attention has been drawn on the negotiative group, and in particular one of its members, Artur Meà§ollari, former vice commander of the Albanian Naval fleet, for whom the president has been reportedly warned of his close proximity with the Greek side.
According to sources, Meà§ollari’s participation in the negotiative group would be a hazard to national security; he is reported to have been removed from the army in 2012, only to come back through a court decision that valued his leaving as unjust.
Concerning Meà§ollari, Meta said he is still waiting on information from the foreign ministry and other relevant institutions about him and other members of the group and that he wouldn’t make any comments on their integrity until then.
Foreign Ministry representatives, however, told local media Meà§ollari is an expert of the negotiation issue and that he holds the highest level of negotiation certification on maritime issues from NATO Cosmic.
In light of these issues, Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati was asked to give clarifications to the foreign parliamentary commission on Wednesday. Bushati did not give details on the negotiations, but rather spoke about the consultations he’d conducted with Meta before asking for his authorization.
The commission’s vice President,Tritan Shehu, also called Meta in a hearing concerning the agreement, which will take place on Friday, March 2.
“Minister Bushati spoke of the MPs and the president’s etiquette violation. I will make an official request to organize a second hearing with the president, because there have been many word games, and many accusations,” Shehu said.
Members from the president’s cabinet declared the president is more than willing to attend such a hearing, despite calling the president in a hearing would make up an unprecedented case in the country.
