Kathimerini: Albania’s Meta urges package deal between Greece and Albania
Albanian Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta told Kathimerini in an interview that “there is nothing the two countries can’t discuss” and called for a comprehensive solution to bilateral differences, including the Cham issue, which Greece doesn’t recognize.
Members of the Cham community who were expelled from Greece during WWII are demanding compensation for lost property, but Athens has dismissed the claim, saying they were Nazi collaborators.
Other issues dividing the two countries include Albania’s treatment of its ethnic Greek minority and an unresolved maritime dispute.
However, Meta denied that ethnic Greeks in Albania are being discriminated against but insisted that two countries must build on the strong historic ties of friendship.
Speaking to Kathimerini on open issues between Greece and Albania, Ilir Meta said:
“Neighbors are like first cousins, they share one blood, one space, but in sharing such common living space they have to resolve certain practical issues which I see more like ‘fine tuning’. And as two Balkan countries, we have inherited some issues linked to the past. The first one in my view would be the ‘War Law’ which Greece still maintains in force against Albania. This senseless law, has yet to be abrogated through a formal act which would confirm the positive existing climate between our two countries. Between two good neighbors and two NATO members, there can be no ‘State of War. In fact, it is a paradox! The second most important issue is that we have to deal with our past history and I think that even if this opens old grudges, we have to deal with them in a constructive, pragmatic and cooperative manner. There is nothing we cannot discuss as neighbors! Dealing with our history, just as other European nations have done in the past, would prepare the solid grounds for finding solutions to a series of open issues that are linked to the Greek Cemeteries in Albanian territory, history textbooks, the delimitation of the continental shelf and of course the ‘Cham issue’, for which we have opposing and differing positions. All of the above, are inherited issues which cause pain on both sides of the border. We as Albanian Parliament will support sincere and constructive exchanges between our two governments who should work to find practical, pragmatic and ‘win-win’ solutions, leaving aside any nationalist or emotional tendencies. Our strategic common interests should prevail over inherited matters, and the only way forward is through open dialogue, not through opportunistic political manoeuvres”.
Source: Kathimerini 2016
