Albania, Greece are very close to new agreement

Albania and Greece have made great progress and are very close to a common problem agreement between the two countries they share.

Thus have Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati and his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, declared in the Thessaloniki Ministerial, the third since 2016 to be held in the northern city of Greece.

“I think we are facing a favourable situation, where there are all opportunities for Albania and Greece to move towards a new agreement, which will be good and, above all, a applicable agreement for both countries”, Busati has said.

“I am very happy since early June we will close this large package of issues we had with Albania and containing problems from the 1940s, 60s, or 70s years ago, Kotzias stated.

In an interview for Greece's state television, Bushati has declared that both sides are working on an agreement regarding the Economic Exclusive, better and more fair than the one signed in 2009 by the two governments back then.

I can say that the principles, which we intend to apply in a new agreement, will be more just for both sides, not as in 2009, because the substance in this process of discussion and in the definition of maritime zones does not necessarily stand in the victory of one side against the other, but in the justice of the principles that apply to practice”, Bushati further stressed.

In the summit, ministers and interior deputy ministers, as well as those of transport, were also involved in the ministry and the foreign ministers of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Macedonia.

All the parties have agreed that, strengthening inter-airal stability and co-operation at a multi-dimensional level on border issues, security, terrorism, migration and economic relations are achieved only with genuine dialogue and shared confrontation with the challenges of time. /