From: Exit Staff
Greek Foreign Minister to Discuss Maritime Delimitation with Albanian Prime Minister in Tirana

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will visit Tirana on October 20 to discuss the issue of maritime delimitation between Albania and Greece with Prime Minister Edi Rama, Euronews reported.

Talks will reportedly include Albania’s progress in European Union integration.

In the last weeks, the Greek government has been pushing for talks to resume “as soon as possible” between the two countries.

The pressure has been mounting since Greece signed agreements for maritime delimitation with Italy and Egypt, in June and August respectively. 

Albania and Greece signed an Agreement for the Delimitation of the Greek-Albanian Continental Shelf and Maritime Zones in 2009.

However, it was not implemented after the Albanian Constitutional Court nullified it due to violations of the Constitution and territorial integrity.

The main concerning issue in the Court’s decision was the status of some rocky, uninhabited Greek islands without economic life very close to the Albanian shore, which the 2009 agreement considered as Greek land in full effect.

In 2018, negotiations between the two countries resumed but the Greek government changed soon after, and negotiations stalled.

In August, the Greek minister and prime minister brought the topic back to public attention.

Dendias warned Tirana on Saturday that “in the context of its European perspective”, it’s important for Albania to sit in talks as soon as possible.

Last month, the prime ministers of the two countries met in Athens to discuss the same issues.