Editing Foreign relations of Albania (section)

=== Greece ===
After the fall of the Albanian [[communist]] regime in 1991, relations between [[Greece]] and Albania became increasingly strained because of widespread allegations of mistreatment by Albanian authorities of the Greek ethnic minority in southern Albania and of mistreatment the Albanian communities in northern Greece. A wave of Albanian illegal economic migrants to Greece exacerbated tensions. The crisis in Greek–Albanian relations reached its peak in late August 1994, when an Albanian court sentenced five members (a sixth member was added later) of the ethnic Greek political party ''Omonia'' to prison terms on charges of undermining the Albanian state. Greece responded by freezing all [[European Union|EU]] aid to Albania, and sealing its border with Albania. In December 1994, however, Greece began to permit limited EU aid to Albania, while Albania released two of the ''Omonia'' defendants and reduced the sentences of the remaining four. {{Citation needed|date=July 2015}}

There are still other impending issues in the relations between the two countries, regarding many Albanian workers in Greece who have not received legal papers despite promises by the Greek government. In 1996, the two countries signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship and discussed the issues of the status of Albanian refugees in Greece and education in the [[First language|mother tongue]] for the ethnic Greek minority in southern Albania. In the 1990s, Greece preferred and assisted [[Fatos Nano]] as Albanian leader due to him being Orthodox over [[Sali Berisha]] a Muslim, as Nano was seen as being friendlier to Greek interests.<ref name="Konidaris80">{{cite book|last=Konidaris|first=Gerasimos|chapter=Examining policy responses to immigration in the light of interstate relations and foreign policy objectives: Greece and Albania|editor1-last=King|editor1-first=Russell|editor2-last=Schwandner-Sievers|editor2-first=Stephanie |title=The new Albanian migration|year=2005|location=Brighton|publisher=Sussex Academic|isbn=9781903900789|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05Mw4-b9oN0C}} pp. 80–81. "Greece's favorite candidate in these elections was clearly MR. Nano. As emerges from the interview material, he –unlike Berisha- was held in high esteem by the Greek side. It should not escape notice that Nano was by origin Orthodox Christian from Southern Albania, whereas Berisha was a northern Muslim... Greece's favour towards Nano was clearly demonstrated in June, when he was allowed to speak to a crowd of Albanian citizens at a pre-election rally in one of Athens' central squares. The police did not interfere and no arrests of illegal immigrants were made."</ref> The government of Fatos Nano was viewed by Turkey as having a pro-Greek orientation and expressed some dissatisfaction though during that time still maintained close military relations with Albania in rebuilding its armed forces and a military base.<ref name="LaniSchmidt90">{{cite journal|last1=Lani|first1=Remzi|last2=Schmidt|first2=Fabian|title=Albanian foreign policy between geography and history|journal=The International Spectator|volume=33|issue=2|pages=79|year=1998|doi=10.1080/03932729808456809}} p. 90. "In a broader Balkan context, Turkey has always seen the Albanians as its natural allies in the Balkans. If the Greeks and Serbs have stood on one side of the scale, the Turks and the Albanians have stood on the other. Although some kind of dissatisfaction with Nano's government is felt in Ankara over what is seen in the Turkish capital as Tirana's pro-Greek orientation, Turkey continues to have close military ties with Tirana; indeed, it is playing an important role in the re-organization of the disintegrated Albanian army. Albania's most important military base, which was destroyed during the armed uprising last year, will be rebuilt by Turkey."</ref>

Today, as result of very frequent high-level contacts between the governments and the parliaments, relations between the two countries are regarded as excellent. Greece is a staunch supporter of the Euro-Atlantic integration of the Republic of Albania. Since Albania's NATO entry in May 2009, Albanian-Greek relations have been developing on all fronts, and especially after the election victory of [[Edi Rama]] in 2013,<ref name="Maria Papathanasiou">{{cite web|url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/11/04/karolos-papoulias-visits-albania/|title=Karolos Papoulias visits Albania - GreekReporter.com|author=Maria Papathanasiou|date=4 November 2013|access-date=20 February 2015}}</ref> with the Albanian Chief of Foreign Policy, Ralf Gjoni, describing the diplomatic relations between two countries as "excellent". Greece today is Albania's most important European Union ally and NATO partner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.albeu.com/news/news/greece-support-eu-candidate-status-for-albania/150425/|title=Albeu.com - Greece supports EU candidate status for Albania|access-date=20 February 2015|archive-date=23 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623190049/http://english.albeu.com/news/news/greece-support-eu-candidate-status-for-albania/150425/|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the Albanian government's request, about 250 Greek military personnel are stationed in Albania to assist with the training and restructuring of the Albanian Armed Forces, as part of the NATO programme. Big projects currently in running between the two countries include the touristic development of the Ionian coastline shared between the two countries, and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which helped boosting the relations of the two countries even further.

Albania's ties with Greece are also based on cultural and historic relations of the two peoples, including migration and national minorities. In addition, since Albania's transition to democracy, Greece has become a major financial partner of the country with Albania's economy being heavily reliant on investments from Greece. Culturally, the two nations' populations, whilst having a tense history, share numerous cultural and historic traits that have been used to boost the political relations of the neighbouring countries.

There had been numerous discussions, research and attempts by Albanians and Greeks to form a confederation during the Ottoman period.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/3475296|title=Historical Greek-Albanian Relations: Some Mysteries and Riddles|first=Helen|last=Abadzi|date=Winter 2011|access-date=27 June 2017|journal=Mediterranean Quarterly| volume=22|issue=1|pages=41–60|doi=10.1215/10474552-1189647|s2cid=153541212}}</ref> In the 19th century there were plans to create a Greek-Albanian confederation, which was revived from the earlier 18th century plans. In 1907 a special protocol and memorandum of understanding was signed by [[Neoklis Kazazis]] and [[Ismail Qemali]], the first [[Prime Minister of Albania|prime minister of Albania]]. Furthermore, Arvanite author Aristides Kollias in his book "The proclamation of the Association of Arvanites" states "from 1881 to 1907 we have sustained efforts and repeated consultations between Greeks and Albanians to create a Greek-Albanian state." In addition, Thanos Paleologos-Anagnostopoulos in his book "Greece and Albania in the early 20th century (1995)" stated that Ismail Qemali, a philhellene, worked with numerous Greek politicians and lobbyists, including [[Arvanite]] leaders, on a possible Greek-Albanian federation, one that "maintains national and religious independence of the two peoples."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.himara.gr/prosopa/974-ismail-kemal-filellinas|title=Ισμαήλ Κεμάλ, ο μέγας φιλέλληνας|language=el|trans-title=Ismail Kemal, the great philhellene|date=30 October 2012|access-date=27 June 2017|website=Himara.gr|archive-date=27 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327023219/http://www.himara.gr/prosopa/974-ismail-kemal-filellinas|url-status=dead}}</ref> Likewise, Neoklis Kazazis saw this as a way of Greece quashing Italian influence in the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greeks-albanians.com/eng-m-ga/eng-m-ga-fed/126-efforts-for-the-creation-of-a-greek-albanian-federation-19th-20th-century|title=Efforts for the creation of a Greek-Albanian federation (19th–20th century)|first=Marios|last=Dimopoulos|access-date=27 June 2017|website=Pelasgians-Greeks-Albanians|archive-date=22 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622151711/http://www.greeks-albanians.com/eng-m-ga/eng-m-ga-fed/126-efforts-for-the-creation-of-a-greek-albanian-federation-19th-20th-century|url-status=dead}}</ref>