Albania, a Balkan country, has been making various attempts to become a member of the European Union (EU) for many years. Accordingly, the Tirana administration applied for EU membership in April 2009 and obtained the status of a candidate country in June 2014. On March 24, 2020, the European Affairs Ministers of the EU countries presented their political agreement on the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. Subsequently, these agreements were approved by the Council of Europe.[1]
On the other hand, the Tirana administration was able to start accession negotiations with Brussels only in July 2022. The EU has handled the accession processes of Albania and North Macedonia together, not unilaterally. However, the fact that Bulgaria is experiencing some problems with North Macedonia in terms of history, language and identity has caused Skopje to be subjected to Sofia’s veto. This has naturally led to the prolongation of the accession process to the bloc for Albania as well.
Although the lifting of Bulgaria’s veto on North Macedonia has paved the way for Albania’s accession process to the EU, it is foreseeable that the Tirana administration may have some problems at the accession point in the future. However, Albania has some problems with its southern neighbor Greece. In this context, it is not unlikely that these problems will be raised by the Athens administration. Chief among the issues between the two countries is the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas and the rights of Greek migrants living in Albania, which Greece is trying to bring to the agenda.
First of all, it is seen that the parties have not been able to reach a common point in the solution of the problem of maritime jurisdiction areas currently ongoing between Greece and Albania. The Athens administration pursues an expansionist policy in the Ionian Sea as well as in the Eastern Mediterranean. In this context, the relations between the parties have been further strained in 2021 when Greece increased its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea from 6 miles to 12 miles. In this period, especially as a result of events such as the exit of Greek fishing vessels from their own territorial waters and entering Albanian territorial waters, it was seen that there were frequent crises on the Athens-Tirana line.
On the other hand, Greek Prime Minister KyriakosMitsotakis and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama, who met at the European Political Community meeting in the Czech capital Prague on 6 September 2022, failed to reach an agreement between the two countries on the aforementioned problem. In this context, Rama’s position regarding the issue needs to be emphasized. In 2009, Greece and Albania agreed to delimit the continental shelf between them, but Rama, who was in opposition at the time, took the matter to the Constitutional Court and played a leading role in annulling the decision. Rama defended the view that the agreement gave about 225 km of Albanian waters to the Athens administration.[2]
As can be understood, Rama, who played a leading role in the annulment of the decision in favor of Greece in 2009, is unlikely to make concessions on this issue as long as he continues as the Prime Minister of Albania. Since the Athens administration knows this, it may create obstacles in some issues in terms of Tirana’s membership to the EU.
In this context, it is necessary to focus on the visit of Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to Albania on December 21, 2022. As part of the visit, Dendias met with his Albanian counterpart, Olta Xhacka. Dendias pointed out that Greece supports the EU perspective towards Albania and all the Western Balkan states in the context of “strict but fair conditionality.”[3]
Predictably, the Greek Foreign Minister said that Athens supports Tirana’s EU membership, but that they welcome it in the context of conditionality. In other words, Greece expects some concessions to support Albania’s EU membership. It is possible to say that this concession is the maritime border problem between the two countries. Therefore, if Greece does not get what it wants from the negotiations with Albania in the future, it can be foreseen that it will be able to use its veto power in the EU membership process of Tirana. In this respect, Dendias’ emphasis on the “context of conditionality” is extremely important.
Moreover, immediately following Dendias’ visit, Mitsotakis also visited Albania on 22 December 2022. Mitsotakis went to Himara, where Greeks live densely in Albania, and described his visit as a special moment for him and for Hellenism everywhere. Furthermore, the Prime Minister of Greece used the following expressions.[4]
“Albania’s obligation is to fully respect your own rights, whether we are referring to the right to self-determination, or the right for your children and grandchildren to learn the Greek language at all levels.”
Mitsotakis emphasized “Hellenism” and used expressions that summarized Greece’s foreign policy in a sense. Moreover, Micotakis has also given the message that he will use the Greek population living in Albania to create pressure on the Albanian Government as a foreign policy tool.
In conclusion, the dispute between Albania and Greece could lead to a further prolongation of Tirana’s EU integration process. In this context, it can be foreseen that the Athens administration may raise the issue of the maritime border between the parties and the situation of Greek citizens living in Albania. If Greece does not get what it wants from Albania, Tirana could face various obstacles in its EU accession process.
[1] “Albania Consilium”, European Council Council of the European Union, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/enlargement/albania/, (Date of Accession: 02.01.2023).
[2] “Greece, Albania Fail to Agree on Maritime Border Issue in Prague”, Euractiv, https://www.euractiv.com/section/all/short_news/greece-albania-fail-to-agree-on-maritime-border-issue-in-prague/, (Date of Accession: 02.01.2023).
[3] “Mitsotakis to Visit Ethnic Greeks Minority in South Albania; FM in Tirana”, Keep Talking Greece, https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2022/12/21/mitsotakis-to-visit-ethnic-greeks-minority-in-south-albania-fm-in-tirana/, (Date of Accession: 02.01.2023).
[4] “Mitsotakis to Greek Minority in Heimarra: It is Albania’s Obligation to Respect Your Rights”, Greek City Times, https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/12/22/mitsotakis-to-greek-minority/, (Date of Accession: 02.01.2023).
