The negotiations between Greece and Albania considering the naval border still show no sign of progress, after the repeated refusal of President Ilir Meta to authorize Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati to negotiate with the Greek authorities.
The stalemate concerning the naval border with Greece dates back to 2010. On April 27, 2009, Albania and Greece signed a treaty on the naval border, the Albanian delegation led by then Minister of Foreign Affairs and current opposition leader Lulzim Basha. The treaty was opposed by the then Socialist opposition block, led by then opposition leader Edi Rama, because it would yield 350 sq.km. in the Otranto Channel and Street of Corfu to Greece.
In a verdict from April 15, 2010, the Constitutional Court declared that the treaty was invalid because the Albanian delegation didn’t have a full authorization from the President to hold the negotiations, and because of serious legal defects in the agreement. This verdict of the Constitutional Court now forms part of the basis of President Meta’s refusal to grant Minister Bushati the authorization to negotiate with the Greek government on his behalf.
This refusal comes after the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Kotzias announced in late January during an interview on Greek TV that “Albania accepted to expand the Greek waters with 12 nautical miles from the coast, the maximum that is allowed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Minister Bushati then categorically denied that any agreement had been reached.
In February, Minister Bushati officially asked President Meta for the full authorization to negotiate a treaty, who has so far refused to grant it twice. Basing himself on Law 43/206 “Concerning international treaties in the Republic of Albania,” President Meta demands to receive documentation laying out the scope of the negotiations, as well as the government’s negotiation tactic. He also pointed out no chief negotiator had been appointed, another requirement of the law.
So far, the government has failed to provide the President with any of the legally and constitutionally required documents. President Meta already signaled that any treaty with Greece not following the correct procedures would once again be declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, just like the treaty from 2009.
The matter is all the more urgent, as the Greek government is rumored to have started to allow explorations for offshore drilling in the contested areas.
