During most of the Cold War, relations between Greece and northwestern neighbor Albania were tense, mainly because the large Greek minority population (estimated at between 250,000 and 400,000) in Albania was deprived of basic human rights by the Stalinist Albanian regime of Enver Hoxha. Relations with Albania made great strides in the mid-1980s, however, although the two countries were still technically at war under a Greek royal decree issued in 1940.

After 1978, when Albania began friendly overtures to Greece, cooperation in trade expanded steadily. In January 1985, the border between the two countries was reopened for the first time in fortyfive years; this event was greeted by both sides as heralding a new era in their relations, although full normalization required another two years.

The fall of the last Albanian communist regime in 1990 was followed by total economic collapse, however; after a short period of liberalization, tensions increased again between the two countries. The key issue was the thousands of Albanian and Greek-Albanian refugees who began pouring into Greece once the Albanian border was opened fully. Greece was unable to stem this flow, which at times exceeded 900 persons per day and reportedly included some criminal elements.

In 1991, in an effort to limit the influx of refugees by improving economic conditions in Albania, the Mitsotakis government signed an interbank agreement granting Albania US$20 million in credits. These funds were largely wasted, however, and five months later, after Albania had joined the CSCE, several international organizations call for an end to relief aid until the money's proper application could be ensured. Albanian president Sali Berisha was accused of corruption and misappropriating loans from the World Bank (see Glossary). After these allegations, as well as renewed charges of human rights violations, Greece, as president of the EU, supported the suspension of some 35 million European Currency Units (ECUs--see Glossary) that had been earmarked for Albanian aid by the European Community Finance Organization (ECOFIN). As economic conditions in Albania worsened, Berisha tried to divert public opinion by harassing human rights activists, among whom were the leaders of Omonia, an opposition political party representing the Greek minority in the south of Albania (referred to in Greece as Northern Epirus) that had elected five deputies in the 1991 Albanian parliamentary election.

Meanwhile, refugee traffic at Greece's borders increased until the Greek minority in Albania was reduced to an estimated 35 percent of its former size at the end of 1993. Minor incidents at the Greek-Albanian border became daily occurrences as resentments built up on both sides. In April 1994, two Albanians were killed at a military camp close to the Greek border. Although the killers were never caught, the Greek-Albanian population received the blame. In May six leading members of Omonia were arrested for crimes against the state. The Stalinist-style trial that began in August attracted the attention and concern of European jurists and President Clinton. Meanwhile, the Greek government had started large daily deportations of Albanian illegal immigrants.

Although Prime Minister Papandreou offered to loosen aid restrictions if the trial were ended, the Omonia leaders were convicted and jailed. As Greece vowed to seek redress, Greek-Albanian relations reached another low point, and their future was thrown into uncertainty.

Data as of December 1994

NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece Relations with Albania information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece Relations with Albania should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.