TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
For anyone unfamiliar with the Balkans, opposition to asking census questions about residents’ ethnicity and religion might appear strange. How else are you going to know who is what and where? But in Albania, like elsewhere in the Balkans, popular mistrust about these questions runs deep, as a multitude of domestic and foreign players try to exert their power in shifting the results to their favor.
This newspaper does support finding the right information about people living in Albania through the census, however we also understand why many Albanians are worried ethnic and religious data will be misinterpreted or misused.
Let’s first looks at ethnicity. Albania’s relations with Greece are better than ever, but Athens’ historic desire to artificially increase the numbers of ethnic Greek inside Albanian borders has left deep marks in the Albanian national psyche. Ottoman-era thinking that sees every person of Christian Orthodox faith in Albania as an ethnic Greek is counterproductive and simply wrong. It becomes even more worrisome when it is implemented by providing an economic incentive like pensions for anyone who declares themselves Greek. The question of Greek-speaking inhabitants that are officially seen as ethnic Albanians in certain areas of the Riviera like Himara also complicates things, as does the fact that many Albanian citizens of Greek ethnicity have immigrated to Greece for better economic opportunities.
As is, allowing for self-declaration to be checked against official civil registries where there are suspicions will cause headaches and allow every players to call the census flawed if the numbers are not in their favor.
Second, if Albanians see the ethnicity question through an “us versus them” glasses, defining religion becomes even more foggy. Our experience has been that many census workers have not properly explained this question during their visits, and many Albanians will simply refer to the faith of their ancestors, not what faith they actually understand and practice or don’t.
Albanians were last asked about religion back in the 1930s, splitting the country at about 70 percent Muslim and 30 percent Christian. But decades of official communism atheism have left a strong mark on this country, and while a strong minority practice religion, many who will declare themselves Muslim or Christian (and the various sub-sects) will likely not be so in practice or understanding.
There are questions in the census that allow people to say they believe in God but not in organized religion, which is the case for many Albanians, we suspect, but it is likely not enough people are aware of this. Having those numbers as well as the number of atheists would also put hard data behind the idea that Albanians are among the least religious people in Europe, which we believe to be true.
Third, Albania needs to do more to get a handle on the exact numbers and demographics of Albanians living abroad. We understand the census deals primarily with this country’s current residents, be they Albanian or foreign, but with as much as a third of this country’s citizens living abroad, the census authorities need to augment the data they get from relatives here with a post-census study offering demographic data on the hundreds of thousands of Albanian citizens living in Europe, North America and elsewhere.
Fourth, the census controversy has pointed out to the rise of organizations like the Red and Black Alliance, using a mix of populism and nationalism to exploit Albanians’ suspicions about the census and other national issues. If this is a sign of a rise in Albanian nationalism inside Albania, it is a worrisome shift in pattern. With its call to its supporters to refuse to participate in the census, the Red and Black Alliance might end up destroying the entire process, since a little as five percent refusal would make the census invalid, they argue.
At the end of the day, the census is an important process that needed to take place. As the results come out, they will likely be flawed. But having flawed results is better than having no demographic data at all.
