After the two ministers met in Tirana on Monday, they pledged to work faster on resolving their decades-old maritime disputes before the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

Greece, Albania Vow to Speed up Resolution of Maritime Disputes

Screenshot from the video conference. Photo credits: Albania Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, and his Albanian counterpart Olta Xhacka, meeting on Monday in Tirana, vowed to speed up resolution of their maritime disputes before the International Court of Justice, ICJ.

The two countries previously agreed to send the matter to the ICJ in 2020, after years of not being able to resolve it themselves.

Albania’s Xhacka said the parties would work together on all the common issues that need to be resolved and that are in the interest of both countries and citizens.

“Another issue discussed is the delimitation of maritime areas, which is of particular interest to our two countries as it relates to the exercise of territorial sovereignty and sovereign rights in the respective maritime areas.

“We have reaffirmed our willingness to seek a compromise, to refer the matter to a third party, such as the International Court of Justice,” Xhacka said during the joint conference.

Almost 18 months before, Dendias and Albanian PM Edi Rama announced their decision to resolve the issue of the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones EEZ via the ICJ.

This time, both countries agreed to speed up and complete the technical matters, so that they can submit the compromise to the ICJ.

Greece’s Dendias said fulfilment of this procedure has “special importance for us …and sends a very important message to all countries; that this is the right, the only, and the appropriate way to resolve disputes”.

“Our bilateral relations have developed to such an extent that the maintenance of the ‘law of war is an anachronism and should be deleted. In this, too, I think we have agreed that we need to work on completing the internal procedures for its abolition as soon as possible” he added. [The two states have been formally at war since the end of World War II.]

In 2009 the two countries struck a deal on the delimitation of the continental shelf between them, but Rama, then in opposition, challenged the agreement in Albania’s Constitutional Court, arguing it gifted Greece 225 square kilometres of Albanian territorial waters and was unconstitutional. The court agreed in 2010, souring relations between the Balkan neighbours.

Rama took power in 2013 but years of talks with Greece have since failed to resolve the issue, prompting an announcement in October that they would seek a ruling from the ICJ.

US diplomatic cables leaked in 2011 claimed the Greek government blackmailed Albania to accept an unfavourable deal using the veto power that Athens has over EU enlargement.

According to Rama’s former foreign minister, Ditmir Bushati, talks became more difficult when the conservative New Democracy party returned to power in Greece in 2019.

Source link: balkaninsight.com