Albanisation

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Albanisation (or Albanization, Albanianisation, Albanianization) is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something ethnically non-Albanian is made to become Albanian. Although not strictly a pejorative term, usage in certain contexts may be considered offensive.

The term is used in reference to Kosovo^[1]. During censuses in the former Yugoslavia, many Roma would be registered as Albanian, identifying with Albanian culture as opposed to the Christian Serbian culture^[2]. It is also talked about in reference to the Torbashis, a Muslim Slavic minority in the Republic of Macedonia, and the Muslim Roma^[3].

The chairman of a Muslim organisation for Torbashis in the Republic of Macedonia, Riza Memedovski, accused the majority Albanian political party, the Party for Democratic Prosperity, of trying to conduct through assimilation, an "... albanization of western Macedonia."^[4]

When discussing Kosovo, Albanisation is often used to describe the demographic shift, whereby Albanians as a percentage of the population increase whilst Serbs and other minority groups decrease. Many of the causes of the population shift can be found in the recent war in Kosovo. Although generally not considered a deliberate policy, unlike other cultural assimilation projects, on the side of any government, the phenomenon exists as a result of diverse factors.

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