Greece, Albania ready to speed up path to The Hague on maritime zones

Greece and Albania are ready to speed up negotiations on an arbitration agreement for reaching a settlement on the delimitation of their respective maritime zones via the International Court of Justice at The Hague, after the general elections in Albania, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Albanian counterpart Edi Rama said on Monday.

The issue was discussed between the two leaders before the start of NATO’s Summit in Brussels on Monday, along with Greek-Albanian relations and the European course of the Western Balkans, for which Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated Greece’s steadfast support.

Government sources said that Rama thanked the prime minister for the free offer of 20,000 vaccines that were delivered on Monday to Albania.

Mitsotakis also reiterated Greece’s “steadfast interest in the ethnic Greek minority in southern Albania, as well as Albania’s progress in the fields of human rights and rule of law, which are among the prerequisites EU has demanded from Albania for progress in its accession talks,” his office said in a press release.