The Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Kotzias, declared that Athens supports
Albania’s EU integration, but Tirana must fulfill its conditions first,
including respecting of Greek minority rights.
He was asked during an interview with his German counterpart, Steinmeier, about the European perspective of Western Balkan. Both diplomats referred first to the relations with Ankara and the political games made with the Treaty of Lausanne, which, according to the German official, are not the right political solution.
“I was in Turkey 14 days ago and spoke to the Foreign Minister, Prime Minister and President about emigration and internal matters. Certainly, I expressed them our stance about the Warsaw Treaty, our unchanged position of how that treaty cannot be doubted by anyone”, said Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Kotzias underlined that the Tsipras government wants to resolve problems with Albania which come from the past in the best possible way. He mentioned the creation of six consulting groups for finding an acceptable solution to these problems and to others, which determine the future.
Kotzias said that unfortunately, there is an increasing nationalism in Albania before elections.
“My recommendation for everyone is to reduce tones and agree on the European path. We can resolve our problems but not allowing them to influence the EU integration process of Albania”.
“It will be seen on December 12th too, through the conclusions of the European Commission, that we want Albania’s EU integration. It is on our best to have European neighbors around us, but Albania must fulfill the conditions first, starting from the judiciary, the administrative reform, fight against organized crime, drug traffic, property rights and protection of the Greek ethnic minority”.
“Hoxha’s logic must be left behind”, Kotzias said, adding that minorities are only those who live in this area, and large populations, which are a majority, should not have same rights as minorities.
The former Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, declared for “Vradini”, a Greek newspapers, that besides Erdogan’s threats, Rama has also started to make challenges. He said that the weak role of Greece has made neighbors make concerning provocations.
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