FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Former President Ilir Meta, who is in prison, has stated, among other things, that the maritime issue with Greece is a national interest that is being handled without transparency and outside of constitutional procedures.
Meta states that the agreements reached in 2018, where Albania gained recognition of the straight baseline and about 40 km² of maritime space, are at risk of being lost if the issue is taken to The Hague.
Former President Meta demands full transparency, institutional involvement, and consultation with the 2018 negotiators and former members of the Constitutional Court.
Meta's reaction: The Sea issue is not only many times "deeper" than the Ionian Sea itself, but also unfortunately just as ugly, in complete contrast to the fabulous beauty of the Ionian.
Due to state duties, I have been obliged to follow this issue for almost 13 years, from high positions, from Minister of Foreign Affairs in September 2009 to President of the Republic until July 2022.
The last official act I took as President of the Republic was the official, nominal information of each member of the Assembly regarding the progress of this issue during the five years that I served as President of the Republic.
This act aimed not only to achieve transparency, but also to raise awareness of the importance of the attention that this extremely complicated issue required, but never from me.
It is known that thanks to the Socialist Party's appeal, the Constitutional Court was invested by issuing a special constitutional decision as the sole guide for the principles and paths of negotiation, up to the detailed definition of the role of each state institution.
In respect of these constitutional obligations, I have cooperated with the Government, also granting authorization for the creation of the negotiating group.
But surprisingly, in 2018, the Greek side sought to operate on the basis of political will, which was not the competence of the negotiating group.
In these new circumstances, as President of the Republic, I expect to meet with Prime Minister Rama to move towards resolving this issue, which now had only one path, the Prime Minister's authorization to lead the negotiations.
For me, this was completely logical, considering that the Prime Minister was also the bearer of the will of the majority in the Assembly, whose role was and remains inevitable in any such agreement.
But the agreement of this meeting was not only never accompanied by a request for authorization from the Prime Minister and the Government, but on the contrary, it was accompanied by a unilateral interruption of institutional communication on this issue, to continue with disinformation towards the Greek side as if the President of the Republic was blocking the process, so much so that Mr. Avramopoulos was surprised after the meeting with me about two completely different stories he was hearing about the same issue.
Not only that, but the Government continued its non-transparent behavior and the Prime Minister, like a devil-fool, also made public statements on this issue, which could weigh down the position of the Albanian state in international courts.
The Greek side was so poisoned with disinformation that the then Foreign Minister, Mr. Dendias, in May 2022, after refusing to modify the agreement of October 20, 2020 that he had reached with Prime Minister Rama, declared that work on concluding the Sea Agreement would begin as soon as the new President of Albania entered office (i.e. Meta left).
Today, as I write these lines, three and a half years have passed since I was not in the President's office, but I am in a new "office" also because of the (non) Sea Agreement.
Since here in the new "office", I was informed by the Albanian media, which had been informed by the Greek media and authorities, about the upcoming visit of the Foreign Minister of our country, where it was emphasized that the main topic would be the issue of the Sea, only in the interest of the success of this visit, but also of the constructive and legitimate defense of Albania's sovereign interests, I would like to shed as much light as possible on some questions and vital issues, which are not discussed anywhere.
On October 20, 2020, Rama-Dendias agreed to go to The Hague for the Sea, as well as to go for the entire issue, thus nullifying the negotiations and agreements of 2018.
When the decision was made by the Prime Minister, there was and still is not (to my knowledge) a negotiating group.
After authorization, a negotiating group should be established to draft a special agreement ratified by the two countries and submitted to the International Court of Justice.
This agreement contains questions for the court, which usually seeks solutions to disagreements.
Prime Minister Rama's decision to go to The Hague for the entire issue is outside his constitutional powers and the establishment of the group today means legitimizing his decision (a fait accompli).
What was achieved in 2018 to my knowledge?
The decisions of the Constitutional Court were reflected:
– Title of the agreement, principle of delimitation, with equal distances and corrected for equitene,
– Article 2 of the agreement was removed,
– The border in the Gulf of Ftelia was assessed.
In addition, Greece recognized the straight baseline of Albania with an effective 40 km² and the 1925 Florence Protocol on land borders was included as a legal basis in the text.
The text of the agreement, equidistance lines, and the principle of equivalence for rocks in the territorial sea and islands on the continental shelf and EEZ were agreed upon.
What happens if we take the whole matter to The Hague?
The 2018 agreements become null and void and the entire matter is considered a disagreement.
The inclusion of the Florence Protocol of 1925 in the draft agreement is dropped.
The area is reduced by 40 km², because we risk losing our straight baseline.
If the entire issue goes to The Hague, the basic straight line will constitute a disagreement and will be considered by the ICJ and likely to be overturned (the Somalia-Kenya precedent).
The only possibility for Greece to overturn Albania's straight baseline is a court decision.
Meanwhile, Greece recognized it in the 2018 negotiations because it had no way to dispute it through diplomatic channels.
This would mean we would lose another 40 km². (Why?)
To my knowledge, this is also confirmed by Mrs. Blair's company "Omnis Strategy", which was paid 3 million euros and submitted the final report with the conclusion that "you are risking the straight baseline in The Hague".
It was precisely this report and conclusion of "Omnis Strategy" that forced the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Olta Xhaçka, in May 2022, to ask her Greek counterpart, Mr. Dendias, to modify the October 20, 2020 Rama-Dendias agreement, which was rejected by the latter, who was eagerly awaiting the departure of the President of the Republic.
Since it has been four years since we paid 3 million euros to "Omnis Strategy", when will we learn about its conclusions and assessments?
Does the President of the Republic have this full report? Does the Speaker of the Assembly have it?
What about the Chairmen of the Parliamentary Groups? What about the Laws Committee? What about the Foreign Affairs Committee?
Are these institutions and officials aware, due to their duties, whether Greece has submitted a draft of the special agreement for negotiation?
What about the content of the draft MEPJ agreement?
What will you go to The Hague for?
For the entire issue or just what was not agreed upon in 2018?
Is there any agreement and on what issues between the Greek and Albanian drafts for the special agreement?
I ask everyone not to treat the Sea issue like the Gjipe lands or a secret tender, because there will be no more possibility of correction.
Therefore, in a transparent, constructive and professional manner, help the Foreign Minister have a successful visit to Athens.
Even a consultation with the 2018 negotiators would not be a waste of time.
Likewise with the honorable former members of the Constitutional Court.
Si more ketij kryehajduti te qelbur e te pafytyre i hapet barku per Shqiperine e popullin Shqiptar? O Zot c'na degjojne veshet. Ky llango edhe gruan e shiti e fytyren e beri bythe e tani qe nuk ia var kush na behet gangster burgu. Me plehra jeni ju qe harxhoni boje e pene per surratin me te ndyre e doni te na mbushni mendjen se eshte burre qibar qe te mund t'i zhvasni ndonje kocke nga ato qe ka grabitur e te paberat.
Mqse je kaq patriot, kush President ja dha nenshtetesine Janullatosit? Si ka mundesi qe edhe ne vitet me te veshtira per Shqiperine, 1997-2000, asnje President nuk pranonte t'i jepte nenshtetesine Jaullatosit dhe ti ja dhe kur Shqiperia kishte dale nga kriza?