Ex- Whistleblower of Overturned Sea Deal with Greece Urges Transparency in Current Demarcation Process

TIRANA – The well-known Colonel, Myslim Pashaj, who denounced the agreement on the division of the Albania-Greece sea border in 2009, which was later overturned by the Constitutional Court, has reacted to the debate launched in recent days regarding the Greek ambition to expand from 6 to 12 miles its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea.
In an interview for the newspaper “Panorama” on Sunday, Pashaj unveils why such a Greek request could violate the territorial waters of Albania. He says that the uninhabited rocky micro-islands should not be taken as points of reference for the demarcation of the border as it was done in 2009. According to him, even now such a practice should not be allowed in the definition of the 12 miles limit.
Taking as an example the Barketa rock, much discussed in 2009, Pashaj says that it cannot be taken as a point to start measuring the 12 nautical miles as required by official Athens.
Colonel Myslim Pashaj also has a criticism of the negotiating group that is working on the division of the Albanian-Greek sea border, as, according to him, there should be high-level experts with high national responsibility.
Furthermore, Pashaj points out the problems that Albanian institutions have on this topic is related to the fact that they are unprepared because of having not dealt with the maritime pact at all.
The Colonel appeals to the Albanian government to make transparent the so far progress of the negotiations with Greece and to come up with an official position if it is agreed to apply the principle of the medium line in the division of the sea border.
Pashaj has an appeal to the political parties to cooperate when it comes to such issues of high national interest in order not to repeat once again the situation that was created with regard to the 2009 agreement.
Colonel Pashaj was the first Albanian expert to denounce the previous sea deal with Greece framed and signed by the former FM, Lulzim Basha, which was later considered null and void by the Constitutional Court. /argumentum.al