Albanophobia

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Albanophobia(Albanian: Shqiptarofobi, Urrejtje ndaj shqiptarëve, Serbian: Albanofobija, other names: Anti-Albanism) or anti- Albanian sentiment is a sentiment of hostility or hatred towards Albanians. Its use in the English language has been limited. Albanophobia is widespread in Serbia^[1] ^[2], Greece^[3] and FYROM^[4].

1 In Serbia
2 In FYROM
3 See also
4 References

[edit] In Serbia

Red Star (a football club in Belgrade, Serbia) supporters hold a banner with "Kill Albanians"

Albanophobia sometimes described as anti- Albanian sentiment is widespread in Serbia^[5] ^[6]. This phobia was present against Albanians during whole 20. century but increased drastically in the beginning of 90`s before Milosevic came to power^[7] and even further during and after the Kosovo war^[8] ^[9]. Albanophobia is by many Western scholars is connected directly to the rise of Slobodan Milosevic^[10]. Different human rights organizations and independent media in Serbia have several times written about anti- Albanian graffiti in different places in Serbia but also about Serbian media publishing anti- Albanian articles, most notably tabloid Kurir. Serbian “The Youth Initiative for Human Rights” sued Kurir in 2006 after they published a article which according to them had “unambiguous intention to insult and degrade the whole nation.” Court in Belgrade rejected the YIHR`s lawsuit against controversial Kurir saying according to YIHR it was legal to insult Albanians. After the rejection YIHR said: “The YIHR reminds that Serbian media often treat Albanians as lesser beings, that hatred and discrimination are openly incited and spread”^[11].

Slogans: “Albanians must be deported to Albania” and “Albanians must be killed” are still common. Such views are being published in different Serbia websites or painted as graffiti in different walls throughout Serbia.

A Serb soldier told Canadian Broadcasting Company why 14 women and children from an Albanian family during Kosovo war were massacrated:

“In my opinion, their only motive was the fact that the victims were Albanians, and perhaps because of some hidden immaturity or sickness of mind on their part. They would probably have killed them had they been Bosnians or Croats. But it is certain that they were killed because they were not Serbs." ^[12]

A survey from 2006 shows Serbs of all minorities have the most negative attitude towards Albanians. According to the survey people wanted Kosovo to remain part of Serbia but not the people ^[13].

[edit] In FYROM

FYROM experienced a new wave of Albanophobia during the short lasting conflict between ethnic Albanians and Macedonian Slavs in 2001. During anti- Albanian riots in the city of Bitola in 2001 according to Human Rights Watch “Police in the Macedonian city of Bitola did not attempt to stop rioting crowds on Wednesday night, and some police officers actively participated in the violence, Human Rights Watch said today. As a result, dozens of ethnic Albanian homes and as many as 100 shops were burned by the mob”. Many yelled slogans including "Death to Albanians”^[14]. The most prominent Albanian politician in FYROM Arben Xhaferi told AFP: “It was a Kristallnacht (Night of Glass), like in 1938 when they attacked Jewish shops. It's the same game”^[15]