Ilir Meta: Rama's secret diplomacy on the EEZ with Greece and Dendias' disinformation

Ο πρώην πρόεδρος της Αλβανίας, Ιλίρ Μέτα, ο οποίος παραμένει προφυλακισμένος και κάνει λόγο για πολιτική δίωξη, επανήλθε με νέες αιχμές κατά του Αλβανού πρωθυπουργού Έντι Ράμα σχετικά με τη συμφωνία για την ΑΟΖ και τις θαλάσσιες ζώνες με την Ελλάδα. Σε συνέντευξη του στο SYRI.net, με αφορμή και την πρόσφατη επίσκεψη του Έλληνα υπουργού Άμυνας Νίκου Δένδια στα Τίρανα, ο πρώην πρόεδρος της Αλβανίας κατηγόρησε τον Ράμα για έλλειψη διαφάνειας, παρασκηνιακές κινήσεις και χειρισμούς που, όπως υποστηρίζει, έγιναν χωρίς θεσμική νομιμοποίηση.

Ο Μέτα αναφέρθηκε εκτενώς στις διαπραγματεύσεις του 2018 μεταξύ των τότε υπουργών Εξωτερικών Ντιτμίρ Μπουσάτι και Νίκου Κοτζιά, υποστηρίζοντας ότι υπήρξε ουσιαστική πρόοδος πριν οι συνομιλίες οδηγηθούν σε αδιέξοδο. Παράλληλα, άφησε αιχμές ότι ο Νίκος Δένδιας είχε λάβει λανθασμένη ενημέρωση από την αλβανική πλευρά για την υπόθεση της Χάγης, ενώ υπενθύμισε πως ήταν ο μόνος Αλβανός πρόεδρος που ανέλαβε την πολιτική ευθύνη να δώσει αλβανική υπηκοότητα στον μακαριστό Αρχιεπίσκοπο Αναστάσιο.

The political leaders of Greece for Northern Epirus

The full interview:

Inquiry: Mr. Meta, after the visit of the Greek Minister of Defense, Mr. Dendias, you restored the responsibilities of Prime Minister Rama not only for blocking the solution to the sea issue in 2018, but also because he acted as a representative of Greek interests with the statement of October 20, 2020 on referral of the case to The Hague.

Ilir Meta: On such important issues i am obliged to speak and act with state responsibility and not with political or personal criteria, even here where i am.

I want to emphasize that the sea issue it is neither like the elections in Himara, which are repeated every four years, nor like the property cases In giali or Himara, which can be reexamined in the future.

It is shocking to hear in prime minister rama's television Appearances on the issue of the sea statements that show, at best, complete state irresponsibilityInstead of speaking as the Prime Minister of Albania, speaks like a lawyer for the other side.

The blocking of the 2018 maritime agreement has only one name and one person responsible: the Eddie RamaNo internal factor could block it, since everyone accepted it. constitutional Court decision, which was mobilized after Rama and the Socialist Party appealed against the agreement signed in 2009 by Ms. Bakoyannis and Mr. Basha.

Also, in 2018 no third party – and here I want to be clear – nor did Turkey have an interest in blocking the agreement., as its own interests were not affected, as was the case in 2009.

It is known that on March 13, 2018, as President of the Republic, i signed the authorization. no. 733 on 19 March 2019 for the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, to grant full authorisation to the Albanian negotiating team, in accordance with the criteria of the presidential authorisation based on Decision No. 15 of 15 April 2010 of the Constitutional Court.

During the period April - June 2018, according to what i was informed, three official rounds of negotiations.

At the same time, I knew that there were certain problems that were not being properly managed by the negotiating team, which, while initially progressed very well, then encountered difficulties from the greek side, who realized that he was losing ground in the negotiations, until he asked for them to continue in political level for unresolved issues.

On May 31, I was officially informed through a letter, signed on May 30 by the most experienced member of our negotiating team, which was addressed to the President, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In it, he expressed reservations about the course of negotiations of May 14th And 15th and especially for the hasty reactions from our team leader, who, for critical issues raised by the Greek side, did not request time for consultation with either the other members of the group or even the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as the Greek side did in corresponding cases.

Later I was informed that enormous pressures were exerted to this esteemed member of the negotiating team, a leading expert in international law, because he had also informed the President of the Republic.

Under these circumstances, I was forced to meet with Prime Minister Rama on June 13, 2018 at the Presidency.

I made it clear to him that the negotiators they could not exceed their powers as they were determined by the decision of the Constitutional Court. I was convinced that the Greek side was not obliged to strictly adhere to the decision of our own Constitutional Court, while at the same time requesting that the unresolved issues be resolved on the basis of political will. That is why I asked him to take the lead in the negotiations himself so as not to miss the opportunity that existed, since a year later the parliamentary elections would be held in Greece, where the victory of New Democracy was expected.

I assured him of my full support in resolving the issue as favorably as possible, as very good work had been done by our negotiators up to that point.

OR his political involvement was necessary, as he was not only the head of the government but also of the parliamentary majority, since in any case the agreement would have to be approved by the Parliament.

He completely agreed with my reasoning, but for months did not submit a request for authorization.

Thus, I was forced, with an official document registered on September 21, 2018 under number 327/9, to ask him again to continue the negotiations himself, as we had agreed on June 13, 2018.

And in this request, no reaction.

On October 5, 2018, I received in an official meeting Mr. Dimitris Avramopoulos, then Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission, but also a personal friend of mine from the time when he was mayor of Athens and I was prime minister.

At the end of the meeting, he asked me why I blocked the negotiations on the sea with Greece, since this opportunity should not have been missed.

But when he heard my explanations, was surprised by how misinformed he had been.

I asked him to assure Prime Minister Tsipras and the Greek government of my will to complete the agreement as soon as possible.

My institutional efforts continued until document number 327/11 of November 20, 2018, in which I directly asked Prime Minister Rama to continue the negotiations and submit a request to take charge of their completion.

No reaction, even when he later became minister of foreign Affairs.

The biggest surprise was his statement on October 20, 2020, together with the Greek Foreign Minister, Mr. Dendias, that the two sides had agreed to refer the case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

This statement was shocking, because it was not an intergovernmental one but a interstate agreement of enormous importance.

Not only the Constitution, but also the special decision of the Constitutional Court clearly define the responsibilities of each institution of the Albanian side in such an agreement, including the Parliament, the President, the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the negotiating team.

So who had the Albanian side consulted to present the matter as a fait accompli? Based on what constitutional, legal or administrative act?

Also, who had he consulted when he publicly greeted the extension to 12 nautical miles announced by the greek side? What did albania Gain from this?

At the same time, those of us who knew the background were informed that the new Greek government wanted to nullify the official negotiations of 2018 and she was the one who was interested in taking the case to The Hague.

Wasn't it the Rama government that had requested presidential authorization for the negotiations with a request registered on February 13, 2018? Why did all the work that had been done and the agreements that had been reached have to be canceled? What did Albania gain?

"The icing on the cake" was Minister Dendias' statement on May 23, 2022, when he said: "We agreed to refer our issue to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. This has not happened yet because the President has not given the relevant authorization to the Prime Minister. It seems that Albania will elect a new President within the next 2-3 months. So then it will be possible."

This statement proves not only that Mr. Dendias was poorly informed, since until July 24, 2022 no request for authorization had ever been received from Prime Minister Rama on the sea issue, but also that Rama's statement on October 20, 2020 regarding the Hague agreement was unconstitutional and irresponsible, since even for the referral to the Hague the authorization of the President of the Republic was required and not just a preliminary understanding with him and Parliament.

In short, we can say that from Rama's slogan in 2013 "zero problems with neighbors", we have moved to "zero transparency" on the subject of the sea.

Not even the recommendations of "Omnis Strategy" on the issue of the sea and the consequences of an appeal to the Hague, for which 3 million euros were paid, are made public.

Inquiry: So you're accusing the Prime Minister of misled Mr. Dendias, telling him that he had sent you an authorization request but you blocked it?

Ilir Meta: You are right to say this. However, to make it easier for Mr. Rama, I can say that perhaps he "mistakenly" sent the authorization request to the Presidency of Greece and it was returned to him as incompetent, since I left the Presidency on July 22, 2022.

Inquiry: Do these positions of yours negatively affect both the specific issue and relations with Greece?

Ilir Meta: Honesty, integrity, and transparency can never harm relations and cooperation between two countries.

My relations not only with Greece but also with all neighbors have always been very constructive and positive.

Do not forget that of the seven Presidents, including the late Ramiz Alia, no one took the responsibility of granting Albanian citizenship to the deceased. Archbishop Anastasios Giannoulatos.

I am sure that in addition to the public attacks they would receive, they were also burdened by the question of whether this might be used later so that his successor would be Greek and not Albanian.

But i took on this responsibility., despite this legitimate concern, and time has proven that it was a very correct, even belated, decision.

When I assumed this responsibility, I did it personally, because it was the exclusive responsibility of the President of the Republic.

On the contrary, Edi Rama asks for unlimited power and only privileges, but never takes responsibility — it's always others' fault.

As for his "achievements" with his neighbors, we don't need to analyze only his erratic behavior towards Greece. The scandals in relations with Kosovo or the "Open Balkans" plan and the discussions about changing borders are enough.

So, from "zero problems", we moved on to zero transparency and in zero liability.