Greece, Albania agree to go to Hague over territorial waters

Greece and Albania have agreed to petition the International Court of Justice in The Hague to delimit their maritime zones, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Tuesday, during a visit to Tirana.

“Having thoroughly considered the issue, we agreed that Greece and Albania should jointly submit this issue to international justice, at the International Court of Justice in The Hague,” Dendias told journalists after his meeting with Albanian Premier Edi Rama.

On his side, Rama stated that the two countries have to abolish the status of war that has remained in effect since World War II, which Dendias said Greece will soon do.

However, according to information, Greece and Albania have not signed a written agreement that would commit both parties to accepting this option and any resulting court ruling.

Tirana and Athens reached a deal to define their maritime border in 2009, when Albania was governed by the Democratic party that is now in opposition. The deal was however deemed unconstitutional and nullified by Albania's Constitutional Court nine months later, after Rama's Socialists who were then the opposition challenged the agreement in court, claiming it cost the country 225 sq. kilometers (86 sq. miles) of territorial waters.