Your Excellency Mr. Prime Minister, my heartfelt thanks for this warm welcome.
I am pleased that, on the instructions of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, I have returned to Albania after a year.
The last time I came was also on his instructions, following the powerful earthquake in Durrës, a few hours later, to explore how we could support the friendly Albanian people and their government.
Prime Minister, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for your kind words regarding this effort on our part.
It is a friendly effort that I think reflects the true feelings of the Greek people and Greek society towards the friendly Albanian people.
Fortunately, my visit today is taking place under much better circumstances, Prime Minister.
Before I go into the many things we discussed, I would like to start by congratulating you on the successful OSCE chairmanship this year. Albania showed that, in spite of the coronavirus, it can exercise an effective Chairmanship, and this is very important for Albania, very important for your government, and very important for our region.
I come to our bilateral relations.
There is much that unites us. And my presence here today is aimed at underscoring a positive and dynamic agenda in our relations.
We have a strong will to take these relations even further and to resolve any pending issues there might be in a climate of mutual trust and respect.
The Greek National Minority living in Albania is, first of all, a very important bridge in our ties. Also a bridge are the thousands of Albanian citizens who live and work in Greece.
Allow me, Prime Minister, to stress the important economic contribution of Greek citizens to the economic development of Albania, and of Albanian citizens to the economic development of Greece.
As you know, Greece and Albania have challenges to face.
We are always ready to make every possible effort in good faith and a spirit of cooperation – as befits European countries like Greece and Albania – for the benefit of our countries and peoples.
We think that this cooperation can function to strengthen Albania’s course towards EU accession, with commitment to the framework of good neighbourly relations that will enhance the stability of our sensitive region.
Albania’s accession to the EU, Mr. Prime Minister, is our common goal.
We are willing to assist Albania, including through the transfer of know-how, wherever you and your government deem this to be useful.
In this context, I would like to stress that Greece, through the Thessaloniki Agenda, which was inaugurated nearly two decades ago, firmly and consistently supports the accession course of the Western Balkans as a strategic goal.
With the Prime Minister and the acting Foreign Minister, Mr. Cakaj, earlier, we had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics.
We talked about the issue of delimiting the maritime zones between Greece and Albania.
The resolution of this dispute will benefit both of our countries, and of course I was very interested to hear, and I completely agree with, Prime Minister Rama’s position that this solution will be founded on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which both of our countries are parties.
And I am very pleased to reiterate what the prime minister just said: that, having considered this issue in detail, we agreed for Greece and Albania to jointly submit this issue to international justice.
To the International Court in The Hague.
This agreement between Greece and Albania is based on both countries’ firm commitment to international legality and the principle of peaceful resolution of disputes.
We also talked about the 1996 agreement between Greece and Albania, and we agreed that the 1996 agreement needs to be deepened and strengthened. We need to proceed jointly to a new strategic partnership agreement between our two countries and we need to organize a G2G meeting and mechanism between our two friendly countries.
We talked about the issue of the state of war. This, Prime Minister, is an anachronism, and I am certain that, together, we shall resolve this too. It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to say this here in Tirana, to the Albanian public, on the instructions of Prime Minister Mitsotakis.
We also talked about the bridge – one of the bridges that connect us.
I am referring to the members of the minority and to the spirit that must govern good neighbourly relations. We must not waste any more time. I think we have achieved a great deal in our relations, and it is up to us to move even further ahead. And I was pleased to see the progress the Albanian side has made on issues that concern the Greek National Minority. I think that all of these issues can be dealt with in the context of our positive agenda.
Allow me to conclude by underscoring that, in contrast with the efforts that the countries of the Western Balkans are making in the context of their European perspective, another country in our wider region, which is still a candidate for EU membership, is not moving in this direction. To be precise, it appears to be moving in the opposite direction.
I am referring to our neighbour Turkey.
It continues, on a daily basis, to violate the fundamental criteria for accession to the EU – both political and economic criteria. In this context, I had no choice but to send a letter to the Enlargement Commissioner, Mr. Varhelyi, stressing that Turkey is in violation of the Customs Union and asking for immediate consideration of the adoption of measures in this regard.
I also raised the issue of the Commission’s consideration of the whole range of violations, including consideration of suspension of the Customs Union, as a clear message of disapproval of Turkey’s repeated violations of international legality.
I highlighted to my European colleagues, the European Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the latest extremely worrisome illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and I underscored the need to stop exporting military supplies and military equipment to Turkey, given that this equipment is being used in actions that destabilise our region.
Prime Minister,
I conclude with something that you, too, just said: what we all must build and what is our common goal is a peaceful future with prosperity for all.
It is this joint effort of ours that is served by my presence here in Tirana today. I am happy to be here with you today.
I thank you very much for your kind words for Greece, for Prime Minister Mitsotakis, for me, for Greek-Albanian friendship.
Thank you very much.
October 20, 2020