In an exclusive interview for Top Channel, the Greek Minister of
Defense, Dimitrios Avramopoulos, who is visiting Albania as part of the
delegation that accompanied President Papulias, clarified a series of
things about the hot topics between the two countries.
When asked about the agreement of the maritime borders, Minister Avramopoulos declared that he was ready to work for reviewing the agreement of 2009.
“There is a signed agreement and countries always respect what they have signed. The Albanian Constitutional Court thought it differently, and the case is not closed yet. We want to resolve this issue and certainly that we cannot interfere with Albania’s internal legal order. But what comes as a result of the dialogue held recently, is the desire to make a final definition of the maritime area. And if this agreement needs to improve, an agreement that already exists, then we should sit and talk about it, but based on this agreement that we have signed, by respecting the signature. I was very clear. It is not a matter of opportunities, but an improvement of the existing agreement”, declared Dimitrios Avramopoulos, Greek Minister of Defense.
As for the cemetery of the Greek soldiers in Albania, the Greek Minister of Defense underlined that every dead person deserves respect. When asked about the Kosina scandal, Avramopoulos declared:
“I can’t give an opinion about this, since I am not fully informed about this situation. I need to study and confirm them, but it is the first time that I hear about this”, Dimitrios Avramopoulos declared.
For Minister Avramopoulos, the Law of War between Greece and Albania doesn’t exist anymore.
“What foundations does this war law have? And I will explain what I mean with this. There are two contradictions. On one hand we have someone signing a friendship treaty, and secondly, Greece was one of the first countries that has helped Albania in the NATO. The coexistence in one alliance automatically leaves aside everything that would hamper cooperation and understanding between two allies. Thirdly, the Albanian and Greek Parliaments have Friendship Parliamentary Commissions. All of these show that the Law of War not only doesn’t exist anymore, but it has been completely removed. My question about this is who are those who want to reproduce and bring this law back to discussion, when it belongs to history”, Avramopoulos declared.
As for the Cham property case, Avramopoulos declared that every citizen has the right to address to Greek and European courts for every claim.
As for the recognition of Kosovo, he declared that this cannot be done overnight, but now they have laid the foundations of cooperation between the two countries.
Avramopoulos was also asked about the problems with Macedonia’s name, for which he valued the Albanian factor of Macedonia, as the mostly committed to find a solution to this problem.
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