Albania, note of protest to Greece

The Albanian Foreign Ministry handed over a protest note to Athens, due to the lack of transparency for the maps and oil researches in the disputed area.

One day ago, the Albanian Ambassador to Athens, Dashnor Dervishi, had a meeting with the Greek Foreign Minister canceled. The meeting was appointed before the note of protest, and its purpose was to make contact with the new Grek authorities and to discuss before the SEECP meeting that is expected in Tirana.

The Albanian Foreign Ministry was announced for the canceling minutes before our diplomat arrived at the Greek Foreign Ministry, and the reason was the note of protest that Minister Ditmir Bushati, in which they asked the Greek government to interrupt the research plan in the sea and review their plan to give the oil and gas research in the Ionian Sea in concession without resolving the issue with Albania.

This is about block Joni 5, which has coordinates tht conflict with block 20 that Athens want to give in concession in the auction announced for the next months. The Albanian side wants the block to not be taken in consideration without resolving the status of the area through a new agreement for the sea with Greece, necessary after the Constitutional Court verdict, which considered it as a damage of our national interests if it went on the way it was negotiated by the Berisha government.

Although the agreement was not ratified by the institutions in Athens, the authorities insist that this is a good agreement and based on the international right. The note of protest of the Albanian side comes since the Albanian Foreign Ministry has tried for six months to give to Athens the search coordinations in the borders of Joni 5, or for the fourth block of researches.

But Greece has offered only the maps of block 3, which shows a lack of transparency. According to our Foreign Ministry, the researches of Greece touch the inter-border area at the best scenario, and at the worst scenario, they enter the Albanian side.

In both cases, the international right obliges the countries to sit and offer the researches in an auction together, but the situation becomes even more difficult due to the lack of a maritime agreement between Albania and Greece. Athens is trying to see this reaction of Tirana as pressure from Italy and Turkey.

Diplomatic sources said for Top Channel that Albania don’t want to resolve this stalemate due to the pressures from Ankara and Rome. Sources also say that the arrival of the Turkish President in Tirana next week is part of this pressure.

What Athens doesn’t say, though, is why they don’t want to sit and negotiate with Tirana the maritime agreement, which will force our country to address the issue to international institutions.

Top Channel