14/ 10/ 2013
Last update: 20:18
ANA-MPA
– Vice government president and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos
met in Tirana on Monday with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and
Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati in the context of his one-day official
visit to Albania.
In
the meeting with the Albanian prime minister, Venizelos noted that the
Greek government wants bilateral relations to reach a new level of
cooperation.
On his part,
Rama said that his government wants to give a new dimension to
cooperation with Greece in a spirit of friendship. He said that the
Albanian government is determined to boost regional cooperation and
thanked Venizelos for the support offered to Albania's EU accession
course.
The
close bilateral cooperation for a solution of outstanding issues in
relations between Greece and Albania dominated talks that Venizelos had
earlier with Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati.
In
a joint press conference, Venizelos referred to the issue of the
revocation of “the state of war” which was raised by Bushati, and noted
that the Greek cabinet declared a state of peace with Albania in 1987.
He also underlined that since 1986, the option of seeking recourse to
the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is open for anyone
wishing to do so. “Therefore, we have a very secure cooperation
framework based on bilateral and multilateral treaties,” Venizelos
underlined.
He
expressed the readiness of the Greek side to offer assistance to
Tirana's EU accession efforts, together with Italy, which takes over the
rotating EU Presidency after Greece.
Responding
to an ANA-MPA question on delineating maritime borders, Venizelos said
that “the common basis of the 'Mediterranean Year', as a result of the
successive EU presidencies of Greece and Italy, is a comprehensive
maritime policy focusing on the Mediterranean region. I repeat that an
important study has been given to publicity by the European Commission,
which proves that the implementation of the international maritime law
and the delineation of maritime borders will have major economic
benefits for the EU and Mediterranean countries”.
The
two ministers also referred to the importance of the TransAdriatic
Pipeline (TAP) for the economies of Greece and Albania, noting that it
is a project of major importance for energy security and regional
economic stability.
On
his part, the Albanian foreign minister said that they discussed “all
the issues that bring us together and those that divide us; we exchanged
opinions for the creation of an appropriate climate of confidence that
would enhance and further deepen our bilateral cooperation, as well as
cooperation on a regional and European level”.
Responding
to a question on whether he raised the so-called "Cham issue" during
the talks with Venizelos, the Albanian foreign minister said that “the
Cham issue is in the diplomatic file with Greece,” noting that “now is
the time to look at reality and overcome the historical obstacles
because we wish to enrich bilateral and multilateral cooperation instead
of remaining hostages of nationalism”.
(Photo: Evangelos Venizelos is (L) is welcomed by Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati)
Μore on subscrider' s page | application
No comments:
Post a Comment