Notable former Greek ambassadors think Albania was allowed to join NATO with giving nothing in exchange
A group of 23 former Greek ambassadors, most of whom have served in key countries, have written a public letter to the Greek Prime Minister, Andonis Samaras, in which they urge him to use the membership in EU as leverage against the neighboring Albania.
The main theme in the letter is that the financial crisis should not remove the attention from the national (read nationalist) goals of Greece.
Albanian Top Channel TV reports that the letter was signed also by the Greek former Ambassador to Turkey and the former head of the National Intelligence Service, Ioannis Krantis, Kostantinos Politis, former Ambassador to Albania, and the former Ambassadors to Belgrade and Cyprus.
The ambassadors count among the main national concerns for Greece, the relations with Turkey, Macedonia, Cyprus and Albania.
They refer to Albania as “a country created by the Great Powers in 1913” and which so far “has not held a friendly position towards Athens”, becoming a problematic country for Greece since its formation.
“After the positive developments for Tirana with the matters of Kosovo and Skopje, the rivalry of Tirana with Athens is increasing,” they warn Samaras.
The Greek diplomats think that the Greek help for Albania on the NATO membership was given “without anything in exchange”. Therefore they urge him to tie the support for the European Union integration with the resolution of the “Northern Epirus issue” (the name Greek nationalists use for the Soiuthern Albania). It is not clear from the letter what exactly they want Albania to do in order to “deserve” the EU membership.
They also warn Samaras about Albania’s growing ambitions “noted with the leaders Berisha and Rama, typical Balkan leaders, who have taken considerable political benefits from Athens without giving anything in exchange.”
The former ambassadors then go on to shamelessly approve the ethnic cleansing of ethnic-Albanian population from Chameria (Albanian-inhabited territories in northern Greece and arguing in the hindsight that “this Muslim population should have been evicted to Turkey according to the Losana agreement.” They justify the ethnic cleansing with the so-called cooperation of this population with the Italians and Germans during the Second World War, a discredited argument, which even if taken in face value fails to justify the violence against women, children and the civilian population who were massively expulsed, physically abused and killed by the fascistic forces of Greek general Zerva.
60 years after the ethnic cleansing, 200.000 Chams (ethnic Albanians from Greece) are banned from visiting their birthplace. Greece has yet to apologize and recognize this historic crime against humanity.
A final advice undiplomatic from the former Greek diplomats to their Prime Minister is that Athens should correct its past mistakes by being more cautious with Tirana’s application for the European Union membership.
Greece has already used its veto to block the membership of Macedonia in NATO. The ambassadors would like to see a similar step against Albania in EU, despite the consequences that the move may cause in the region, as well as to the situation of the Greek minority in Albania and the half a million Albanian refugees in Greece.
(r. a./Illyria)
Per”Alba – Dansk” Shkodrani
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