Athens, Tirana lock horns over hydrocarbon exploration in borderline

Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Kotzias was absent from a ministerial meeting of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Tirana on Friday, as Athens and Tirana lock horns over hydrocarbon exploration plans in the Ionian Sea, maritime and land borders.

As foreign ministers of neighboring Balkan countries discussed regional cooperation, diplomatic sources in Athens were weighing whether Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras should attend the SEECP summit in the Albanian capital next week, Greek media reported.

Tensions between Albania and Greece have reignited after Tirana delivered an official demarche to the Greek ambassador to the country a few days ago regarding Greece's energy exploration plans in the Ionian Sea that raised territorial claims.

The Albanian government asked Athens to review its plans, citing an alleged violation of the territorial integrity of Albania. In addition, Tirana asked Greece to present maps of planned land explorations in Epirus, a region in northwestern Greece along the borders.

In response to the complaint, Kotzias first cancelled a scheduled meeting with the Albanian ambassador to Athens and then his participation at the Tirana talks.

Diplomatic sources in Athens noted that Albania had not reacted when Greece publicly presented its plans in 2011. The same sources interpreted the move as a clear bid to question existing borders in the context of the decades-old nationalist idea of creating a "Greater Albania," a country that would include parts of several Balkan countries, Greek "Vima" (Tribune) daily noted.

Pointing to the timing of the complaint that coincided with a visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tirana, analysts in Athens suspected that the step was supported by Greece's historic archival Turkey which despite the improvement of relations in recent years raises similar claims in the Aegean Sea.

It was not the first time that Tirana and Athens are engaged in a dispute over exploration rights and borders. In 2009, the two sides reached a deal to settle sea borders, but the then main opposition party leader and current Premier Edi Rama turned to justice and a year later Albania's Constitutional Court annulled the agreement. Endit