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The current development, Greece and Albania to announce that they will move forward define the maritime zones between them by referring the issue to The Hague it had essentially been announced by the Albanian prime minister a month ago.
The reef of the constitutional court
In Edi Rama gave her interview to MEGA on September 20 he had typically said:
“In a few weeks I will receive the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Albania to discuss this issue and immediately afterwards I hope to also receive the Greek Prime Minister. It has been a problem since 2009 that needs to be resolved. We can solve it. “
Nikos Dendias’s statement in Tirana after his meeting with Eddie Rama was clear:
“Having considered the issue thoroughly, we agreed that Greece and Albania should jointly present this issue to international justice, at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.”
In fact, the joint appeal in The Hague was the attempt by the Greek side to overcome the chasm of the Albanian constitutional court, which had annulled the Athens-Tirana agreement of 2009. In order to evade the judicial decision that hinders a transnational agreement, a decision is necessary of an international court.
For the past ten years, Albania has avoided any debate by citing the decision of the constitutional court that raised questions of the constitutionality of that agreement on the maritime zones of Greece and Albania.
Ankara’s intervention and Rama’s role in 2009
But in reality, what happened in 2009 and The agreement was not ratified, it came after Ankara intervened as revealed by the inspirer of the Blue Homeland, the Turkish soldier Cichat Yaici. It should be noted that the current Prime Minister of Albania, then leader of the official opposition of the neighboring country, played a special role.
Edi Rama’s party had sent the agreement to the Albanian Constitutional Court, where it was finally annulled in the summer of 2009, despite the fact that the signatures of the two governments had fallen.
Edi Rama himself, speaking to MEGA a month ago on the occasion of his presence in Athens, had declared about the 2009 agreement:
“After the agreement, there were some social groups that expressed their strong concern, arguing that the agreement was not correct. At that time I was the leader of the opposition and we decided to raise the issue in the constitutional court, instead of it becoming a matter of political controversy, as is customary in the Balkans, when the opportunity arises to behave “patriotically”, thus undermining the notion of patriotism. . The court ruled that the agreement was not correct. “
In this sense, Eddie Rama is facilitated through The Hague to politically support an agreement with Greece on maritime zones, since in a similar agreement in 2009 he had essentially opposed referring it to the constitutional court and raising the question of constitutionality.
Relationships are great today
However, Mr. Rama, speaking about the current relations between the two countries in the same interview with MEGA, highlighted:
“The court ruled that the agreement (2009) was detrimental to our national interests. Since then we have entered the phase of disagreements, and then dialogue. Now I have to say that I am positively surprised by the Greek government, Prime Minister Mr. Mitsotakis and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Dendias, because they are incredible people, with an open heart and the will to move forward, without a hidden agenda and the ambition to bring relations between countries to the same level of relations between peoples, which are excellent. “
The 12 miles in the Ionian
In this context o Eddie rama was one of those who defended Mitsotakis’s statements to the Greek parliament on extension of territorial waters to 12 miles in the Ionian after the agreement with Italy on the EEZ, as there were unrest within Albania. In fact, former Prime Minister Sali Berisha He had opposed the prospect of expanding Greek territorial waters.
Speaking to MEGA a month ago, Mr. Rama had underlined: “We did not receive any agreement (referring to the Greek-Italian agreement on the SEZ). We have just gone through a typical Balkan and classic absurd experience of false patriotism, which fueled the most extreme form of fire, after its Prime Minister addressed the parliament, during the discussion of the maritime agreements with Italy and Egypt. There was a discussion about the right of the country to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles, which is based in the International Treaty of Montego Bay.
Not unilaterally
Every country that has access to the sea has the right and it is not something you negotiate or ask others to expand your waters where possible. Where this is not possible, the countries must reach an agreement, while the case between Greece and Albania is special, because both countries cannot continue their unilateral expansion without an agreement between them, because of course this is not the case. possible. We are next to each other, we cannot do things alone or we cannot live without realizing and respecting the fact that the other is by our side. We have to reach an agreement and I am convinced that we will find a solution. “
“I have always been of the opinion that we must not allow this to happen north of false patriotism and stupid and crazy nationalists here and there, as long as we can reach a good faith agreement raising the issue in an international court with a result goal and let’s all live in peace from then on. ”It was something that I shared repeatedly with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister.
“In a few weeks I will receive the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Albania to discuss this issue and immediately afterwards I hope to also receive the Greek prime minister,” added the Albanian prime minister.
Anachronisms and hesitations
In the context of all these developments in Greek-Albanian relations, Greece seeks not only to close an open front in its neighborhood, in which Turkey has had and sought to intervene, but at the same time the Greek government is trying to signal a solution comprehensive of your disputes. and the backwardness it has with its neighbors given that, in addition to the maritime zones with Albania, Greece is preparing to expand its territorial waters to the west.
“The era of hesitation is over,” government spokesman Stelios Petsas wrote in a press release referring to The Hague’s reference to demarcation of the maritime zones of Greece and Albania after the meeting between Edi Rama and Nikos Dendias. .
In essence, the settlement of Greece’s disputes with Albania through The Hague is also a signal for the international community and Turkey to follow the same model for Greek-Turkish relations rather than provocation and tension tactics.
In this sense, the reports made by Messrs. Dendia and Rama for the elimination of an anachronism such as the “war situation” between Greece and Albania, as well as the “peaceful settlement” of disputes between countries. 
The international legitimacy of the commitments
As in the case of Albania and Eddie Rama, an agreement through an international court can resolve constitutional and political issues within it, so in the case of Greece and Turkey, The Hague can act as that force for international legitimacy. of a compromise where within the two countries it can provoke reactions from both sides of the Aegean.
It should be noted that Eddie Rama has not hidden them his friendly feelings for Erdogan stating that he is proud to be a friend of the Turkish president and in that sense could symbolize a kind of bridge between Athens and Ankara.
The friendship between Venizelos and Kemal
The opinion expressed by the Prime Minister of Albania on the relations between Greece and Turkey and the current crisis with Oruc Reis in the Eastern Mediterranean is as follows:
“My point of view is very simple. Greece and Turkey are mature enough to solve the problem by themselves. They do not need the opinion of Albania or anyone else on this issue. Each of the countries has their own point of view, which obviously clashes, but both have much to gain if the problem and good coexistence between them is resolved, in a way that can help both citizens and citizens and countries to live together in peace and harmony. Turkey is fundamental to the safety of Europe.
Greece is important for the security of Europe. Turkey is the biggest and closest friend of the European Union. Turkey is the opposite European border. All the evidence holds that Greece and Turkey should meet, work it out, and coexist in the future.
“Don’t forget to remind him of the friendship between Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and Kemal Ataturk.”
In any case, a condition for Greece and Albania to reach The Hague is that there must be no unexpected political developments that overturn what was agreed between the Mitsotakis and Rama governments, as in Elections have been called in Albania for April 25, 2021.
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