Chizhov: I've seen the map of Greater Albania, including part of Greece

Speaking in an interview for the Greek newspaper “Kathyni” in the margin of the Delphy Economic Forum this month, Chizhov, as this paper writes, has expressed itself against Tirana's ambitions of creating a “Large Albania” after the alleged exchange of territory between Kosovo and Serbia could set a precedent for other countries in the region.

Speaking of the Prespa Agreement, where the agreement between Greece and Macedonia was reached on the name, Chizhov drew a parallel to the Kosovo issue.

Macedonia's “Constitution was openly violated, the referendum was declared invalid, the president did not sign it, and now my colleagues in the EU are saying this should serve as a sample for resolving other issues. And the first one that comes to mind is Kosovo. Kosovo, otherwise, is a very complicated issue. If properly discussed, the proposal for territorial exchange could work. But this can also set precedents, which can cause problems even in northern Macedonia, where a substial part of the population is Albanian. I have seen several maps of Greater Albania, where even a considerable part of Greece is included”, has declared Russia's Permanent Representative to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov.

He has already named the Greece-Macedonia name agreement as undemocratic because, according to him, the US ambassador, on the day the agreement was being voted in the Macedonian Assembly, has remained at the facility all day, putting pressure on three parliamentarians who have been serving a prison sentence.

“They were released from prison to vote”, he said, adding that Russia has been openly against the agreement because, as Ambassador Chizhov said, this is no way to solve a problem.