The Serbian President’s statement regarding the possibility of diverting the flow of the Iber River has brought diplomatic reactions between Albania and Serbia.
After the official reaction of Tirana, where the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs expressed concern about a possible intervention in a cross-border water system, answers have come from Belgrade both from the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučič and from the Serbian Foreign Minister, Marko Gjurič.
Vucic described the issue as an internal problem of Serbia, questioning why Albania is involved in the debate.
“I don’t know what this has to do with Albania. What does Ibri have to do with Albania? What does this have to do with any of them in any way? This is our internal issue,” Vucic said.
The reaction has also come from the Serbian Foreign Minister, Marko Gjuric, who, through a reaction on the X social network, accused Tirana of trying to shift attention from the issues related to the Serbian community in Kosovo.
Djuric claims that Albania has no hydrological basis to be involved in the way Serbia manages water resources within its territory.
“The River Ibër does not pass through Albania and Albania is not a coastal state in its basin”, he writes.
In his reaction, Gjurič also connects the debate about the Ibër River with the political developments in Kosovo. He accuses the Albanian institutions that, according to him, they are silent about what Belgrade considers as a violation of the rights of the Serbs in Kosovo. He adds that Serbia will not accept foreign interference in decision-making about its natural resources.
“The Iber River does not pass through Albania and Albania is not a riparian state in its basin. Therefore, Albania has no territorial or hydrological basis to claim a role in determining how Serbia manages water resources within its territory, in accordance with the Constitution, laws and its international obligations. Tirana’s decision to get involved in this matter, while ignoring systematic pressure on the Serbian population and attacks on Serbian property, raises inevitably question the political motives of this intervention.It also raises legitimate concerns about familiar regional concepts that aim to treat Serbia’s territory and resources as part of a wider Albanian political sphere.
Serbia is a sovereign state and will decide for itself how to manage its natural resources. Albania will not take these decisions and neither will anyone else outside of Serbia”, Gjurič writes, among other things.
But for official Tirana, a river that is part of a cross-border water system cannot be treated only as an internal issue of a state.
According to Minister Hoxha, any intervention affecting transboundary waters must be done in accordance with international law.
“Changing the flow of a river that is part of a transboundary water system is not a purely internal issue or a decision that can be taken unilaterally, especially when its consequences directly affect the territory, environment, water security, water supply and the lives of citizens of another country. The international law of waters is clear in this regard. Water cannot be used as an instrument of political pressure nor as a means to punish another country or population. Albania strongly supports Kosovo’s right to security, sustainable development and the protection of its water resources”, he said.
