The issue of the sea with Greece, Meta letter to Nicholas: Open to cooperate even beyond July 24

“In respect of transparency, the extraordinary importance of the issue and the full fulfillment of constitutional obligations by all responsible actors, today on the eve of the end of my mandate as the President of the Republic, I sent an official informative letter to the Speaker of the Assembly , Ms. Lindita Nikolla and all deputies, on the open issue of the negotiation process between the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Greece for the Limitation of their Maritime Zones.

I wish that every member of parliament reads it carefully, without any political interest or prejudice, and that the Assembly of Albania in dealing with it is guided by the national interest, the implementation of the Constitution and the good will for a fair solution to this issue. Guided as always by the high sense of responsibility and cooperation on major issues, I remain open to cooperate with the Parliament of Albania not only until the evening of July 24, 2022, but also beyond.writes Meta next to the letter.

From the introduction of the letter, Meta emphasizes that the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs throughout this process have not shown loyalty and sincerity with the President of the Republic, who at best was informed late and post factumnot completely, just as the actions of the government were done unilaterally and without even taking the opinion of the President of the Republic.

On the eve of the end of the mandate, Meta reiterates that the issue of limiting the maritime areas between Albania and Greece is an open issue between the two countries, which, in the opinion of the President of the Republic, should be resolved once and for all, in accordance with The Constitution of the Republic of Albania.

He also brought to mind the institutional communication from the Head of State, from February 2018, emphasizing that the two countries have not officially announced or declared the end of the negotiations, nor their closure without results, or have identified which are the issues that ultimately did not has been agreed between the parties, and what path or procedure will be followed.

“Although Albania is officially in the open process of negotiations with the Republic of Greece, the President of the Republic has not been officially informed by the Prime Minister of what act, the Government has moved from the negotiation process according to the Constitution and international law, to the development of negotiations at the political level for this issue, and even more to declare in advance what will be the path to be followed”, according to Meta.

In the letter, the president did not leave without criticizing Prime Minister Edi Rama, stating that he has misinformed and misled the authorities of the neighboring country, that he has obstruct the President of the Republic.

“From the subsequent developments, it is clear that Prime Minister Rama, at least with a lack of sincerity, with his immaturity, or with his lack of knowledge of the law, has damaged all of this, going so far as to misinform or mislead the authorities of neighboring country, that there is an obstacle to the President of the Republic Ilir Meta.”

LETTER TO THE PARLIAMENT – LIMITATION OF MARITIME AREAS WITH GREECE JULY 21, 2022

The maritime borders with Greece are one of the most delicate issues of our country, while the Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, in an interview with the Greek media, shortly after returning from Tirana, indicated that the solution of the sea issue between Albania and Greece for Athens will take the road only after Ilir Meta leaves the Presidency.

We recall that the Greek parliament at the beginning of 2021 decided to expand Greece’s water territory in the Ionian Sea, from six to twelve nautical miles.

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