TIRANA, April 10 – Albanians have emerged as one the main recipients of EU citizenship in the past few years following a quarter of a century of massive migration mainly to Italy and Greece, the hosts of about 1 million Albanian migrants.
A report published by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office shows Albanians were the top two major recipients of EU citizenship for the third year in a row with about 67,500 in 2016 alone. The report sandwiches Albanians between Moroccans, the top EU citizenship recipients since at least 2012, and India.
The overwhelming majority of 97 percent of Albanians granted EU citizenship in 2016 obtained Italian and Greek citizenship. The destination of about half a million Albanians, Italy granted citizenship to about 37,000 Albanians in 2016 accounting for 54.7 percent of total number EU citizenship obtained by Albanians.
An estimated 200,000 Albanians are reported to have obtained Italian citizenship during the past 27 years following the first 1991 exodus to the neighboring country across the Adriatic soon after the collapse of communism and an ongoing migration and family reunions.
As an EU candidate, Albanians enjoy visa free travel to the Schengen Area since late 2010 but are not eligible to work in EU member states without residence permits.
The Eurozone’s third largest economy, Italy is Albania’s top trading partner and one of the top investors in the country.
Neighboring Greece, the host of another half a million of Albanians, issued citizenship to about 28,550 Albanians in 2016, accounting for 42.3 percent of total EU citizenships obtained by Albanians in that year.
The traditional second largest trading partner and top foreign investor in Albania, Greece is also estimated to have granted citizenship to more than 200,000 Albanians in the past quarter of a century.
Belgium also granted citizenship to about 560 Albanians in 2016, ranking the third main EU member state providing citizenship to Albanians for 2016, but accounting for only 0.8 percent of the total EU citizenships acquired by Albanians during that year.
Germany and France, Europe’s economic superpowers and the main destinations for Albanian asylum seekers in the past four years, have granted citizenship to only few hundreds of Albanians in the past few years.
Most EU countries allow dual citizenship, but with an ongoing wave of migration leading to the ageing of population and a sharp decline in birth rates, experts have warned of severe long-term social and economic consequences for Albania’s current 2.8 million resident population which is forecast to undergo another sharp decline.
Albania already has one of the world’s highest per capita levels of migration with an estimated 1.5 million Albanians living and working abroad.
