Greece, Albania Vow to Speed up Resolution of Maritime Disputes

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, and his Albanian counterpart Olta Xhacka, meeting on Monday in Tirana, vowed to speed up resolution of their maritime disputes before the International Court of Justice, ICJ.

The two countries previously agreed to send the matter to the ICJ in 2020, after years of not being able to resolve it themselves.

Albania's Xhacka said the parties would work together on all the common issues that need to be resolved and that are in the interest of both countries and citizens.

"Another issue discussed is the delimitation of maritime areas, which is of particular interest to our two countries as it relates to the exercise of territorial sovereignty and sovereign rights in the respective maritime areas.

"We have reaffirmed our willingness to seek a compromise, to refer the matter to a third party, such as the International Court of Justice," Xhacka said during the joint conference.

Almost 18 months before, Dendias and Albanian PM Edi Rama announced their decision to resolve the issue of the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones EEZ via the ICJ.

This time, both countries agreed to speed up and complete the technical matters, so that they can submit the compromise to the ICJ.

Greece's Dendias said fulfilment of this procedure has "special importance for us …and sends a very important message to all countries; that this is the right, the only, and the appropriate way to resolve disputes".

"Our bilateral relations have developed to such an extent that the maintenance of the 'law of war is an anachronism and should be deleted. In this, too, I think we have agreed that we need to work on completing the internal procedures for its abolition as soon as possible"...

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