Albania-Greece: Intrigue and Love

Remzi Lani, 14 January 2000

Officially the present relationships between Albania and Greece are very good. In fact they seem too fragile and frail. Ironically, it can be said that they are paradoxicall. Schiler's play title "Intrigue and Love" seems to better suit the complex relationship between the two Balkan neighbors.

Both countries have signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation four years ago, but paradoxically, de jure they are in a state of war. Greece has not fully abrogated the Law of War with Albania, which is in force since 1940. The experts of the international right say that the decision of Papandreou's Cabinet in August 1987 is not juridicially enough to invalidate the State of War, because Greek Parliament has never approved the act.

This story is not an obstacle, however, for a company of 200 Greek soldiers to be stationed for two years now, in the outskirts of Tirana and Greece assisting the rebuilding of dilapidated Albanian Army.

Both countries declare that do not have territorial claims against each other, but nevertheless yet there is no border pyramid between Greece and Albania for reasons that in Tirana are still unclear.

However if the War Law makes up one of the relics, which the Balkans are afraid or hesitate to throw away, other cards inherited from the history but not only from it, are kept under the table by both sides and are taken out when the political moment asks for them.

A question made on a press conference during Albania's Premier Ilir Meta visit in Athens was enough for the bilateral relationship to enter an icy period. Asked in relation with the Greek government's attitude on Tcham's issue, Simits answered briefly and flat: "This issue doesn't exist."

Albanian Premier has fiercely reacted and has demanded that Greece should solve out the Tchams people property issue in accordance with the international Convents, where Greece adheres. While the reaction from the Tscham community in Albania was more than harsh.

The Tcham issue, an Albanian population expelled from Greece shortly after the Second World War on charges of collaboration with Germans has stirred up time and again the Greek-Albanian relationship. Tchams have rejected the collective gilt and at the same time insist on the solution of their property issue in Greece. The association "Tschameria" is trying to sensibilize the local and international opinion asking for a global solution of their problem through an agreement between the two countries. Till now there is not a single case that a member from the Tcham community to turn to the European Court for Human Rights to demand the restitution of their property from the Greek state.

The Governments in Tirana, more concerned with the problem of the Albanian immigrants in Greece, has left aside the Tcham problem, and the best they have done is by uttering any word in order to calm down the Tchams, who continue to protest by waving the land-patent of their abandoned houses in Greece some five decades ago. The flat answer of Simitis has opened up the Pandora's box and let the devils lose and it seems difficult to get them back.

The nervous reaction of Prime Minister Meta followed by a more aggressive vocabulary from the Berisha's right wing opposition brought about some acts, which sound as a revenge on the part of Greek authorities. Greek officials who behave as Europeans do within Europe and as Balkans in the Balkan area, swiftly made public the car story of the Albanian Public Order minister Spartak Poci. Who on a visit to Greece was stopped at the border, because the car he was traveling with was registered as stolen. The story was kept secret for more than a week but after the polemics on Tcham issue, it was offered to the Greek press and even to the CNN.

Six months earlier, during a meeting with his counterpart in Ioannina, Poci had threatened that if Greek police border crossing would continue to tear off Albanian immigrants passports, Albanian police with respond with the same token by tearing off Greek passports too. After six months, it seemed the Greek police knew about the minister's car and got him out of it. The Albanian minister, of course had nothing else to do but shut up the mouth and bent down the head shamefully.

Later on this story was followed by "the drivers' licenses crisis". Thousands of Albanian immigrants and hundreds of merchants were not allowed to enter Greece with their cars during the early days of January, because their international licenses, issued by the Albanian authorities were considered not valid by the Greek authorities. The fact that Albania has not signed yet the Convent of International Transportation of 1968, but only that of 1949, was introduced as a reason.

Drivers who were waiting endless hours during the January cold nights, of course, found hard to believe that the real reason was the non-signing of the 1968 Transport Convention. This fact was known for 10 years by the Greek authorities, as it was also known by the Italian or Macedonian authorities that have posed no problems in the transportation through their countries. Also the one sided blocking of the border caused a harsh response from Tirana, when the Albanian foreign Minster Paskal Milo protested to the Greek authorities for this one sided and not forewarned act. The border was opened and the cars started to move, anyhow faster than the bilateral relationship.

During all post communist decade the Greek-Albanian relationship are characterized of many zigzags, which reflect the Balkan intrigues between sides as well as the love of the old neighbors, who need one another.

Albanians are suspicious on the Greek neighbor especially because of their relations with the Serbs. Still under the influence of the Kosovo War emotions, there are many the people in Albania that their judgement for the neighbors passes through the Kosovar prism. Some organs of the mass media maintain a hostile attitude towards Greece and further more speak of the Greek planes to colonize Albania.

But stripped off emotions, Albania greatly needs its southern neighbor: currently 400-500 thousand Albanians work in Greece. They sent in Albania the money that are earned in Greece by keeping alive not only their poor families, but also the Governments, which change one after the other in Albania.

That's where we should search for the reason, why in general Tirana keeps quiet when the powerful and capricious neighbor behaves arrogantly. They know it, of course in Athens and when the need comes do not hesitate to forewarn by filling up some buses with immigrants and sending them back to Albania.

In fact this story resembles more or less the cat and the mouse story. At present, Greece benefits from the Albanian immigrants to the same extend Albania does. They work on second hand jobs that the Greeks have forgotten by now and are paid much less than the Greek workers. Greek economy greatly depends on the Albanian immigration. In Tirana they know it already and each time the loaded bus with immigrants reach the border, Albanian authorities pretend to look worried, because it is clear that the expelled immigrants will head back for Greece after some days.

In this climate of mutual mistrust and doubt, the pragmatic Governments of both countries have managed not without success in maintaining balanced relationship. Both sides have adopted the concept according to which "the inherited problems from the past should not become obstacles for the present and the future."

Tirana, of course, didn't like the rallies on the streets of Athens against the NATO air campaign over Yugoslavia, but however, was satisfied with the fact that Greece didn't use the veto mechanism to impede them anyhow. And in the long run, the Greek government attitude during the campaign was pragmatic and much more advanced than the attitude of the Greek public opinion, which was almost homogenous with anti NATO feelings. Albanian press has been more aggressive towards Dini, Italian foreign minister than towards its Greek counterpart Papandreou.

Probably in Athens doesn't look good the tendency manifested by Tirana to play the role of the first violin in the Stability Pact. According to some experts, the Stability Pact gives more importance to the axe Albania-Macedonia-Bulgaria-Turkey, countries known as pro Americans and shadows the vertical axe Greece-Macedonia-Serbia, which in all cases demonstrates problems.

Of course a lot of arguments are accountable in favor of the idea that Greece is interested of a strong and stable Albania. First of all it will curb the great influx of immigrants, who besides the positive contribution on the Greek economy, causes some social problems, especially in the high rate of criminality. A stable Albania, of course, would be a safer shelter for Greek minority in Albania, which the great part of it is only registered in Albania, but leaves and works in Greece.

But also some arguments that run contrary to this idea can be counted. A strong and stable Albania would be less dependable on the Greek market and would try for a greater role of the Albanian factor in the Balkan, which is not favored by the Athens. Or could be orientated more openly towards Italy, which the bulk of the Albanians sympathizes, more than Greece.

The rivalry between Greece and Italy regarding Albania cannot be considered as secret, or better the rivalry for the EU projects in Albania. Berisha preferred Italy ahead of Greece, but during the last period of his reign the relations with both neighbors reached a low level. Nano preferred Greece ahead of Italy, which faced him with the Italian criticism on one side and Turkish on the other side. Majko neglected both sides during the Kosovo crisis, dedicating to the relationship with the US. While Meta with the new post-war situation seems to have leaned the steering wheel more towards Rome, by causing so certain dissatisfactions in Athens. This can partly explains also the last dilemmas.

History pushes Greeks and Albanians more towards intrigues, the present towards love.

REMZI LANI (AIM)