Blog

Written by Ioannis Ath. Baltzoi* 

          There are some things that the common mind honestly does not understand and feels powerless to explain why they happen. Especially in politics, even if they concern serious national issues. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and the general quarantine of the Greek people, on March 26, 2020, one day after our national anniversary, the European Council, with the consent of Greece, gave the green light to start EU accession negotiations with Albania and Skopje.

          The issue is not what the European Council decided and why at this time the procedures for "integration" of these two countries into the EU should begin, but why Greece consented to this, especially for a hostile government, not the country, but its prime minister, such as the Rama government in Albania. A government whose prime minister is demonstrably a conscious instrument of the president of Turkey, for actions and actions against Greece. We will not examine the fact that these two countries obviously do not meet the criteria. Albania is being shaken politically by the virus, by demonstrations and by accusations against the Rama government for authoritarianism and participation in drug trafficking and other illegal activities.

           The Anti-Hellenic Attitude

           As far as we are concerned, let's look at the "achievements" of the anti-Greek Rama government, at least in recent times, and let's ask ourselves why the Greek government accepted:

          A year and five months have passed since the day that Konstantinos Katsifas, a native of Northern Epirus, was murdered - executed by the Albanian state (Albanian police), with justice still having not issued a report on the circumstances. Which state in the entire world would tolerate this misery and insult, without having reacted with harsh measures to the audacity of a state that is a pariah to the international community?

          In the last year, the Albanian authorities have unjustifiably banned hundreds of Greek citizens from entering the territory of Albania, while unreasonably delaying many Greeks from Northern Epirus at border crossings, while taking many of them to the Security offices in Gjirokastra or Saranda for interrogation and psychological pressure.

          It is also constantly being established that the problems with the property regime, as well as the self-determination of the Greeks of Northern Epirus, have not only not been resolved, but on the contrary, through illegal legislative and arbitrary actions by the Rama government, an intention to seize the property of the Greeks of Northern Epirus is revealed, as well as through other methods, such as terrorism, to drag them to court with ridiculous accusations and finally, in some cases, to murder people who do not negotiate their Greek identity.

          Recently, on Sunday, April 5, ten Greek residents of Chimborazo were brought to the Central Police Headquarters of Albania for erecting a large iron Cross at the Holy Monastery of Panagia Aethaliotissa, a common and self-evident act for marking Holy places.

          And how did Greece react to all this? With the "harsh" statement of the Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Varvitsiotis "The text for the start of accession negotiations with Albania provides for the obligation to respect the rights of the Greek minority, including both the census and the right to self-determination as well as the registration of property. We will closely monitor the progress and compliance of the two countries (ed. Albania, Skopje) in implementing their commitments", making the Albanian Prime Minister "turn yellow with fear". Greece, in relation to Albania, is a country with a strong army, economy, and a member of the EU. and other international organizations, it makes the same mistake constantly, taking verbal assurances from the politically unreliable Albania, which never respects and approves everything about this country, based on the wishes of "respecting the rights of the National Greek Minority".

 The Albania-Turkey Agreement

          Recently, Albanian media brought to light an agreement between Rama and Erdogan. Tirana and Ankara signed a defense cooperation plan, which also includes the issue of relocating foreign Muslims from Turkey to Albania. A Turkey-Libya-type agreement, which will be completed within 2020, on defense and security issues. According to revelations from ethnic websites, it has been agreed to relocate at least 30.000 Sunni Muslims to areas of Northern Epirus, where the Greek element is in the majority and especially near the Greek borders.

          Some have already started to arrive, about a few dozen, who are already being hosted at the Refugee Reception Center that has been set up in the Grehot area, outside Gjirokastra. The issue had started in the summer of 2019, when a working group was secretly formed to create Migrant Reception Centers in the areas of Gjirokastra, Korçë, Aghia Saranda, while First Aid Stations will be created at the border crossings with Greece (Kakavia, Ripesi, Mavromati, Treis Gefyres, Kapestitsa). According to Albanian publications, these populations are planned to be permanently settled either in new functional structures or in houses in villages in the area! For this reason, the Albanian Ministry of Interior has already asked municipalities in the southern part of the country to indicate places where Migrant Reception and Hospitality Centers could operate.

          The intentions of the Albanian government have already created major reactions in local communities and in the country's political world. Albanian President Ilir Meta has already spoken directly about the "threat of demographic change" of the country's active population in the event of a massive influx of refugees and immigrants. His predecessor, Bujar Nishani, said the same, and accused the Rama government of turning against Greece and the EU with these new moves. In a post on Facebook, he wrote:

         "While Albania should be in solidarity with Greece so that it becomes clear that Europe's borders are where the battle to contain refugees-immigrants is being fought, Rama is breaking the front by shifting the line to the rear." The former president believes that this is an initiative that will once again provide work for the mafia, which has already taken care to procure speedboats for their transport across the Adriatic to the EU. 

The Dangers for Greece.

          Turkey's national strategy is well-known and manifests itself in many forms against Greece. The Aegean, Thrace, and the Eastern Mediterranean are the fixed targets in Turkey's unwavering policy against the homeland. To achieve its goal, the Turkish geostrategy uses many ways and methods, in addition to political-diplomatic pressure and blackmail. It uses various forms of hybrid warfare, as well as unholy alliances and influences on authoritarian and illiberal regimes (e.g. Albania), or failed and collapsing state entities (such as the Libyan government of Sarraj), with the agreements it imposes on them for its pursuits. Thus, Erdogan, after the provocative and illegal memorandums-agreements with the Sarraj government, signed a new defense agreement with the prime minister of Albania, which he instigated, where we will soon see what exactly has been decided. In addition to the use of the port of Vlora by the Turkish Armed Forces, the settlement of Sunni immigrants-refugees from Turkey in Northern Epirus, near the border with Greece, aims at Turkey's strategic planning for the encirclement and pressure of Greece by its willing representatives (proxy states), with the aim of its geopolitical suffocation and political paralysis, taking into account the policy of appeasement so far, which all Greek governments have implemented with criminal consequences in recent decades. He failed in the hybrid war (invasion) in Evros, but it seems that a new plan is being prepared in the NW of Greece. Where there is no river, there are no barbed wire fences, there are not enough military forces, and the terrain is mountainous with ravines and cannot be fully controlled. The borders are open and the accesses are many and, above all, known to the Albanian mafia and the various Albanian gangs (smugglers, human traffickers, drug traffickers, robbers, goat thieves, etc.).

 Thus, the Turkish plan aims at what concerns us:

           A. To alter the racial and population composition of the area, a plan that coincides with Albanian aspirations for the "disappearance" of the troublesome Greek ethnic minority.

           B. To put pressure on the Western flank of Greece and to largely implement the "Muslim strengthening" of the target country, Greece, with the Muslim arc envisioned by the Sultan.

           C. To cause friction and invasions in Greece, from the guided "vasivozouks" that he will send to Albania.

          D. To use controlled groups, for border incidents, provocations and sabotage in Western Greece, when its main front is in the East and especially during periods of crisis.

          Epilogue

           We come back to our original question, why did Greece consent, with regard to Albania. Have all our issues been resolved and our relations are rosy and constructive? The people of Northern Epirus live in a state of complete freedom and brotherhood with the Albanians and constitute the bridge of friendship and cooperation between the two peoples, Greeks and Albanians? Didn't the previous mess we suffered with our approval of Albania's entry into NATO, which instead of rationalizing the neighboring country made it more intransigent, provocative and quarrelsome, make us think? Our national policy should be strict to harsh not towards Albania and its inhabitants, but towards Erdogan's "minion", who "willingly and without contradiction carries out his orders", even to the detriment of the Albanian people, as the former president of Albania, Bujar Nishani, rightly and harshly pointed out. I do not know why this policy was chosen by Greece, unless the leaders know something more about the rumored political developments in the so-called "Colombia of the Balkans". Until then, Greece should denounce this agreement, the creation of the Centers near its borders as dangerous for Greece and warn the Rama government that it will veto its accession to the EU and its financing from it, if it implements its current plan. Instead of the above, Mr. Varvitsiotis "threatened" Edi Rama with monitoring progress and compliance in the implementation of his commitments. Otherwise, what, Deputy Minister? Will you scold him or give him a yellow card?

* Ioannis Athan. Baltzoi is a Lieutenant General (ret.), President of the Hellenic Institute for Strategic Studies (ELISME), former Defense Attaché in Tel Aviv, former ECMM Operations Officer in the Bosnian War, Graduate of the Hellenic Army, Hellenic National Defense Academy, Tactical Intelligence School (US Army), holder of a Master's Degree (M.Sc.) in Geopolitical Analysis, Geostrategic Composition and Defense Studies and International Law from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens.