The recent violent clashes in Macedonia have led to an echo chamber of concerned analysts and politicians in countries that are typically hostile to Albanians and their well-being. The clashes in Kumanovo, they claim, are the first step toward a new regional conflict that aims to create a state that would include all ethnic Albanians in it – the so-called “Greater Albania.”
Statements from Albania’s leaders are routinely twisted to fit this narrative that is in fact more foreign than Albanian.
It is this country’s Slavic and Greek neighbors, in fact, who are more obsessed with Greater Albania than the Albanians themselves.
Also obsessed with the narrative are the likes of the Kremlin propaganda channel, RT, which consistently twists its facts against Albania and Kosovo at the same time as Moscow rolls tanks and “volunteer” soldiers into neighboring Ukraine to protect its Russian-speaking brethren.
Likewise, the Greek press is also up in arms with conspiracy theories about Turkey pushing Albanians to create a territorial dispute with Greece.
Geopolitical fantasies aside, Albania’s and Kosovo’s official policies are clear. The two countries want to join the European Union first — not each other. Both governments have made it clear they are not looking for border changes.
Neither do ethnic Albanian political leaders in Macedonia call for a split of the country, but rather for full rights and cohabitation with that country’s Slavic population, which under current demographic trends will be equal or less than the ethnic Albanian population in the next few decades.
This lack of nationalism in the stances of ethnic Albanian leaders is not simply to suit the wishes of the international community. It also suits the leaders themselves.
First, ethnic Albanian politicians in all countries are very content to rule their little areas and enjoy their pie of power. They do not want to rock the boat or have to deal with pesky new voters they can’t easily control.
Second, a century of separation has left little appetite for a union with Kosovo among Albania’s population, with the exception of fields that are entirely based on the shared language and culture — things like music, literature and education.
There is no mainstream party in Albania’s parliament advocating for a union with Kosovo and the rest of the ethnic Albanian areas in the Balkans. The last to try, the Red and Black Alliance, failed to get a single seat in parliament despite a massive pre-electoral hype and the nationalist climate tied to the 2012 celebration of 100 years of independence for Albania.
Surveys conducted by the Albanian Institute for International Studies show that nationalism is very low on the list of priorities for Albanian voters.
A union with Albania might be more popular in Kosovo, where a political party that wants to unite the two countries has a strong showing in parliament, but even there, voters have other priorities first.
These facts are simple. However, the neighbors’ phobias can be understood under the context that they know that historically Albanians were given a raw deal. A century ago, the borders were split at the expense of the Albanians, giving our Slavic and Greek neighbors entire territories inhabited by ethnic Albanians. They then tried by every means necessary – including ethnic cleansing, deportations and population exchanges – to get rid of the Albanian populations, succeeding entirely in northern Greece and parts of Serbia, but not in places like Kosovo and northwestern Macedonia.
Yet, unfair as it is, Albanians are not alone to have suffered this fate in Europe. Hungary too is surrounded by ethnic Hungarians. Other nations, like the Basques, were denied a national state entirely.
The values of the European Union help suppress nationalist feelings while creating a sense of unity and solidarity.
That’s why the idea of a united Europe is appealing to Albanians. Instead of conflict and border changes, Albanians prefer to have no borders at all. The European dream might be delayed and in crisis, but it is not dead.
