Gov’t refuses to give details on Greece talks
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- Albania’s government has urged critics not to rush to judgement, as opposition and civil society representatives are worried details over the maritime border dispute are not being widely discussed
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TIRANA, Feb. 5 – Albania’s foreign minister has refused to provide details over the country’s talks with Greece on a series of pressing issues, urging critics instead to wait for the full details to come out once a deal is complete.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati said at an event this week the new maritime border agreement under negotiation with Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias will be more favorable for the country than the previous 2009 agreement.
Opposition and civil society representatives last week raised the alarm about lack of transparency in the talks, as well as the possible concessions Albania was making
Representatives of Albania’s government have been vague and refused to directly answer repeated questions on the talks, which dead with a maritime agreement with Greece, a Greek war law hampering relations since WWII, the Cham issue and other issues of concern.
Bushati blamed the local media of “defamation” after it quoted a Greek interview of Bushati’s counterpart, who noted Albania had agreed to give away 12 miles of sea.
“Every media discussion that mentions 12 square miles expansion, or giving away the sea, is a defamation and time will prove that. We are hoping to have a new agreement in the short-term future,” Bushati said.
The law of war, which is also closely related to property rights, is another issue expected to be resolved in the short-term future.
“The Rama government won’t declare a lifted law of war until it legally happens on paper. We hope for that to happen in the first six months of 2018,” Bushati said.
According to Bushati, the law of war can be officially lifted only through a decree equivalent to the one that passed it, which was a royal decree.
In an earlier interview for Greek media, Kotzias said the equivalent to a royal decree currently translates to a presidential decree.
Bushati said that except for the psychological relief lifting the law of war will have, it will also allow Albania, its citizens and the Greek minorities to “benefit their right to property.”
Concerning the Cham issue, Bushati said the Rama government is the first to officially include it in its diplomatic schedule.
In a recent interview for the talk show Real TV, Prime Minister Edi Rama said the Cham issue is not recognized by the Greek government, as for Greece it is related to territorial claims, so the Albanian side placed it under negotiation in the context of human rights.
“I am glad to declare that concerning this issue we are in a much more favorable position than several years ago, because the exchange of data has begun, or exchange of information on cases when Albanian citizens who are part of the Cham community are refused entry into Greek territory,” Bushati said.
Asked whether the reopened dialogue came as a result of the pressure for accession negotiations with the EU to begin and a need for Greece to support Albania’s European path, again, Bushati refused to give a direct answer, saying instead that Greece should be Albania’s strategic partner for several reasons, including the countries’ geography, historic ties, the big number of Albanian citizens in Greece and the region’s overall stability.
The dialogue with Greece aims to serve the geographical and human resources ties the two countries share. Based on 2011 census data, there were 480,851 Albanian migrants living in neighboring Greece, the country’s second top trading partner and a main source of remittances. That’s on top of many indigenous Albanian-speakers of Greek nationality, the Arvanites of southern Greece. There is also a small Greek minority in southern Albania, in a couple of municipalities where Greek is the official language alongside Albanian.
