Albanian PM Says Greece’s Expansion of Territorial Waters Consistent With International Law

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has described Greece’s recent announcement for the extension of its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea from 6 to 12 nautical miles as “absolutely consistent” with International Law, speaking in a TV interview in his home country, said the National Herald on Sunday
“It is a sovereign right recognized by the International Law of the Sea to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles for any country with access to the sea, when this extension does not violate the interests of another country,” he added on Friday.
Rama also stated that the specific announcement by the Greek government does not concern the two countries‘ negotiations on the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Straits of Corfu and accused “those who signed the 2009 agreement regarding the EEZ and rejected the Constitutional Court” for trying to “confuse citizens by arousing their nationalistic sensibilities.”
The 2009 agreement was signed by the then FMs of Albania and Greece, Lulzim Basha and Dora Bakojanis respectively, but Albanian Constitutional Court called it null and void in a vote 9 to 0.
Continuing, Rama said that he supports the demarcation of the EEZ with Greece and reiterated that there is no agreement on this issue between the two countries, citing technical problems, as he said, such as the need to reorganize the Albanian team of experts.
Referring to bilateral relations with Greece overall, he noted the willingness of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to improve relations between the two countries.
Edi Rama is scheduled for a working visit to Athens in coming days, as the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)./argumentum.al