65 years from the Corfu incident

22/10/2011 00:00

65 years ago, two British warships were hit by the mines at the Corfu
Channel. The incident of 22 October 1946 killed 44 British sailors and
wounded many others.

The case was taken by the International Court of Hague. The Court blamed Albania for the incident, although they admitted the fact that the British had illegally entered Albania’s territory.

The Albanian government refused to recognize the Court Order and pay indemnity. Then, the British government asked the blockage of the gold found in Germany and that would be given to Albania and the other countries to which Germany had taken the treasuries of the national banks.

This year, a report prepared by Top Channel’s journalist, Klodiana Kapo, for the weekly program “Exlusive”, brings new testimonies of the Albanian sailors that cleaned the Channel from the mines in 1958.

According to them, the mines were German, placed by the Nazi during the spring of 1944, for impeding the landing of the Allied Forces.

In this same material, Paskal Milo defends the theory that the mines were from Yugoslavia, placed with Enver Hoxha’s acknowledgement, after the agreement with Tito.

The original images of the incident, published for the first time in the Top Channel’s program “Shqip”, by Rudina Xhunga, cast shadows of doubt on the incident itself, if it was fake or not.

This theory was published after Auron Tare declared that in the depths of the Saranda Bay was discovered the sunk British Ship. The Albanian and British governments had neglected this matter since 1991, and today’s discussions are held only from the historic point of view.

This incident raised the question of free and peaceful navigation. Today, the Corfu Channel is open for the cargo ships, but ironically, the border line between Albania and Greece is still unclear.

One month ago, the Greek Foreign Minister, Stavros Lambrinidhis, asked the implementation of this agreement during a visit in Prishtina. But after the decision of the Albanian court, which rejected the agreement, the only remaining possibility was that to create new negotiations.

Top Channel