“Relations between Albania and Greece remain a complicated riddle in Southeast Europe. Albanians and Greeks are neighbors with extensive historical, economic and social bonds, they partake the same Euro-Atlantic geopolitical sphere and largely agree about the broader macro-historical political agenda of the region: the establishment of healthy democracies, strong market economies and rule of law states, as well as the integration of the entire Balkans to the European Union and NATO. Moreover, the two countries went beyond the severe separation of the Cold War through intensive interaction of all sorts from the early 1990s onwards.”

This is the assessment made in a report under the title “Relations between Albania and Greece” prepared by the Open Society Foundation for Albania (OSFA) and the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and authored by Ioannis Armakolas, Assistant Professor at the University of Macedonia and Head of the South – East Europe Programme of ELIAMEP, George Siakas, Research Director at the Public Opinion Research Unit of the University of Macedonia and Alketa Berzani, analyst at the Tirana based Data Centrum Research Institute.

The presentation of the report and the findings of the survey, which were preceded by remarks of the Greek Foreign Minister Dendias, was unveiled in a special online public discussion under the motto: “Albania and Greece relations - What do citizens think?” on June 29, 2021 attended by officials of the foreign ministries of the two countries, diplomats, representatives of the civil society associations and journalists from Albania and Greece.

In his video message Foreign Minister Dendias said Greece and Albania opened a new chapter in their bilateral relations with their decision to refer the delimitation of their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. “This decision is exemplary as to how important issues can be resolved when both parties focus on observing international law and good neighborly relations,” he said in the pre-recorded message for the event.

Mr. Dendias also referred to the historical ties between Greece and Albania, and to the contribution of the Greek ethnic minority in the country, as well as to that of Albanian citizens living in Greece “in establishing a solid bridge of friendship between the two countries.” He also reiterated Greece’s support for Albania’s European perspective.

From emotional to rational ties…  

In his remarks in the event, Maklen Misha, Adviser at the Ministry for European and Foreign Affairs of Albania, considered surveys as the current one a source to create real perceptions on the relations between Albania and Greece and Albanians and Greeks that are often subject of speculations and misperceptions. According to him, Albanians and Greeks have been neighbors for a very long time and in view of this there have been complications of the relations with their ups and downs, good and bad moments.

“But it is important that the trend of the bilateral relationship has been positive in recent years. Relations have been moving in the right direction,” said the Albanian diplomat, who considered as a positive move the fact that Albania and Greece have started to talk to each other even about subjects that were considered taboo before. He noted that the relations are moving from being emotional to being rational and are being viewed through the lens of mutual interest. In this frame he mentioned the decision to refer to the International Court of Justice in The Hague the issue of the delimitation of the maritime issue between the two countries.

In conclusion the Albanian diplomat said that despite the progress issues remain, there are problems of the past as, for example, the War Law and he called for bringing the relationship to their reality.

The Head of Public Diplomacy Office at the Embassy of Greece in Albania, Alexandros Bouzis pointed out in his contribution that the relations between Greece and Albania are really close and they extend to a wide range of sectors from the economy to politics and the two people are interconnected.

“However, what is undisputable is that the jewel in the crown of Greek and Albanian relations is the human factor,” Bouzis said, noting that the ties between the two people prevail over every other aspect of the framework of the relationship. Speaking of the Greek minority in Albania and Albanian immigrants living in Greece, he said that they have created a strong link between the two countries.

Nevertheless, according to him, misperceptions and mentalities of the past survive and they are still reproduced by mass media and social networks. “Our job is to go beyond those misperceptions and build an environment of trust,” he said. Bouzis took the opportunity to bring to the attention of the participants the inauguration of the Hellenic Parc in the area of Farka Lake on the outskirts of the Albanian capital of Tirana on June 18 this year.  

Scrutinizing dimensions of a complex relationship

The findings of the analysis conducted by OSFA and ELIAMEP, partners involved in this project, are presented in a 93- page report, which contains four parts and twelve sections: “International Political and Security Context”, “Bilateral Relations”, “Personal Attitudes, Values and Stereotypes”, and “Acquaintance and Knowledge” to close with “Conclusions and way forward”. It includes charts and other findings which constitute concrete evidence on the societal base of mutual misperceptions and stereotypes. The research project aimed to delve deeper into public opinion attitudes in the two countries about bilateral relations and the various dimensions of this complex relationship.

In Part I, entitled “International Political and Security Context”, the report reviews questions pertaining to international affairs of the two countries. More specifically, this part includes questions about the perceived best international friends of the two countries, their perceptions of foreign threat, their opinions about neighboring countries, and their opinions about European integration issues, including the prospect of Albania joining the EU.

Part II, entitled “Bilateral Relations”, includes questions about the overall assessment of bilateral relations between Albania and Greece, the main problems affecting these relations as they are perceived by respondents in the two surveys, and about attitudes towards Albanian migration in Greece.

Part III, entitled “Personal Attitudes, Values and Stereotypes”, includes questions about the personal attitudes of Albanians towards Greeks and Greeks towards Albanians, the spontaneous associations that respondents in each of the two surveys make about members of the other nation, and the personal values and attributes that respondents of each side associates with the members of the other nation.

Finally, Part IV, entitled “Acquaintance and Knowledge”, attempts to identify the extent to which respondents are familiar with members of the other nation as well as to assess whether they possess accurate knowledge about each other.

What does the survey reveal?

From the outset it should be highlighted that the survey methodological approach in both Albania and Greece included quantitative face-to-face and door-to-door interviews. The number of those interviewed in Albania was 1,200 persons on the basis of a nationwide representative sample and the collection was made during 11-26 February 2020.  In Greece the number of those polled totaled 1,128 persons and data collection was 13-20 December 2019. The questionnaire covered the key perceptions of Albanians and Greece on a wide range of issues as the target of the authors of this work was to further understand the attitudes that the Albanian and Greek nations hold about each other and how these opinions may facilitate or obstruct the building of a closer partnership between the two countries.

Relations with neighboring countries

Albanians are quite extroverted and perceive more countries as their best friends compared to Greeks who are more introverted and perceived to be on their own without many friends.

According to Albanians' perception their country’s "Best Friend" is the US with 29% of those asked, Germany- 22%, EU-16%, Italy- 12% while Greece is ranked fifth with 8% to be followed by Kosovo – 6%. In the meantime, the perception of NATO is just 1%.

While Greeks' perception is quite different and according to the chart France is on top - 29.5%, the EU- 10.5%, Russia – 5% and US is at the bottom – 4%. There is a neutral opinion on Albania like regarding many other countries. 

Further on, Greeks and Albanians have the reverse perception of being threatened by other countries. But it is noteworthy that Albanians and Greek do not see each other as a threat. The finding shows that 73% of Albanians see no threat from any country, while 26% said ‘yes’ and Serbia was the main threat with 11% percent followed by Iran – 5%, Russia- 4%, Greece- 3%.

For their part Greeks feel much more threatened than Albanians with 88% of those polled seeing threat from other countries. Turkey is on top - 80.5%, Germany- 15% while US 2.5 percent. Albania is not listed as a threat.   

In the meantime, Albanians have more positive views on the neighboring countries except for Serbia compared to Greeks who hold more neutral or negative opinions except for Serbia and Israel.

Albanians are keener to develop relations with neighboring countries, especially with Kosovo and Italy, compared to Greeks who are more interested in their relations with Israel and Serbia.

Attitudes on the European Union

Albanians strongly believe the European Union is a place of convergence and cooperation compared to Greeks who find the Union more as a place where the powerful impose their interests.

For 65% of Albanians the EU is a place of convergence and cooperation, while that rate is 17.5% for Greeks whose country is a member of the block while Albania is a candidate country with frozen accession negotiations so far despite the overwhelming ambition of the people to join it. So almost all Albanians support their country’s candidacy to join the EU versus half of Greek citizens showing such support. Albanians (66%) and Greeks (63 %) agree on the support delivered by the Greek government to Albania on its European perspective and journey.

General overview of Albania–Greece relations

Albanians describe the current state of relations between the two countries as more positive (57%) than Greeks who are more inclined to being neutral (48%). Some 12% of Albanians consider the ties very good, a figure which stands at only 2% of Greeks having that opinion. In the meantime, 5% and 2% of Albanians involved in the project considered the relations respectively bad and very bad, while 16% of Greeks considered them bad and 2% very bad.

Both nations agree that their relations have improved in the recent decade compared to the past, with almost half of Albanian and Greek citizens holding such an opinion. Both nations also agree that Greece did assist Albania in the last twenty years, in vast majority (85%-90%)

There are reverse perceptions on the bilateral economic relations, with half Albanians claiming both countries have benefited equally from them but more than half of Greek citizens trusted Albania has benefited more or is the only beneficiary from this economic relationship.

Perceived problems and key issues in bilateral relations

The two societies diverge in their perception regarding problems affecting bilateral relations. Albanians spontaneously top rate the delimitation of the maritime zones and issues of the Cham population while Greeks the Albanian expansionism and attitudes toward the Greek minority.

 When prompted, both nations consider the Cham issue as an obstacle to the bilateral relations, while holding different interpretations for the reasons behind this. Some 85% of Albanians are aware of Cham properties in Greece, while this figure stands at 58.5% for Greeks.

On the other hand, the two societies have opposite opinions about whether the Albanian government respects the rights of the Greek minority in Albania. Almost all Albanian citizens trust that their government respects the minority rights, while only few Greek citizens hold the same belief. So, 94% of Albanians agree that the Albanian government respects the rights of the Greek minority in Albania. But 78% of Greeks disagree that the Albanian government respects the rights of the Greek minority in Albania.

Further on, the vast majority of Albanians (85%) don’t perceive the Greek minority as a threat to the country. Similarly, 3 out 4 Albanians describe the personal relations with the Greek minority as positive.

Referring to Albanian immigrants living in Greece, majorities in both societies agree that the overall relations between Greeks and Albanian immigrants are good. Both nations agree that the Albanian migrants don’t pose a threat to Greece, yet 1 in 5 Greeks think differently. So, 97% of Albanians disagree Albanian immigrants living in Greece pose a threat to Greece, while 74% of Greeks disagree Albanian immigrants living in Greece pose a threat to their country. Overwhelming majorities in both societies agree that children of Albanian migrants are fully integrated in the Greek society.

Personal attitudes, values and stereotypes

The spontaneous associations show that Albanians have a whole more positive opinion about Greeks (44%) while Greeks currently hold a more neutral opinion about Albanians (40%). Both societies share similar descriptions of the other nation’s person such as being hardworking and a family person. Interestingly, most Greeks (63%) don’t see Albanians as a threat to their culture, and so do the majority of Albanians (80%).

According to the conclusions of the authors of the surveys, there is some positive news in the trend of the bilateral relationship and the perceptions of Albanians and Greeks on each other on the basis of the above findings. On top of all, both sides seem to agree that the relations have improved compared to previous decades, and the two nations largely do not see each other as a threat.

Albanians view the Greek minority in Albania as well integrated and relations between the majority and the members of the minority to be good. Purely negative attitudes at the personal level between Greeks and Albanians have significantly weakened. Moreover, the two nations seem to associate each other with some positive attributes and values. Albanian migration in Greece is not anymore seen as a problematic aspect. But it is drawn the conclusion that closer examination and attention should be paid to the following issues considered as sources of concern.

The two nations continue to hold some negative opinions and stereotypes about each other, and also to associate each other with some negative values and attributes. The knowledge that each side holds for the other is often inaccurate; more problematic at the diplomatic-political level. On the other hand, the two sides have very different perceptions of the problems challenging bilateral relations. Albanians focus on the question of the delimitation of the maritime zones between the two countries and various issues related to the Chams while Greeks’ main problem in the relationship is Albanian nationalism. Also, Greeks overwhelmingly consider that the rights of the Greek minority are violated as Albanians overwhelmingly consider that the Greek minority is treated well by the Albanian state.

The report jumps to the conclusion that Albania and Greece find themselves in a paradoxical situation. “The two societies and economies are highly interconnected, but diplomatic and political relations remain testing and in a near permanent state of volatility. Simultaneously, the increasingly hostile rhetoric manifested in electronic and social media, creates a fertile ground for the two nations to potentially develop their identities in opposition to one another,” noted the report.