Greater Albania[1] or Ethnic Albania (Albanian: Shqipëria Etnike) is an irredentist concept of lands outside the borders of the Republic of Albania that are considered part of a greater national homeland by most Albanians,[2] based on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in those areas. The term incorporates claims to Kosovo, and territories in southern Montenegro, northwestern Greece (Chameria), the western part of the Republic of Macedonia, and the Presevo Valley, Medveda, and Bujanovac in Serbia.
The unification of an even larger area into a unique territory under Albanian authority had been theoretically conceived by the League of Prizren, an organization of the 19th century whose goal was to unify the Albanian inhabited lands (and other regions) into a single autonomous Albanian Vilayet within the Ottoman Empire.[3] However, the concept of a Greater Albania, as in greater than Albania within its 1913 borders, was only ever implemented de facto and de jure under the Italian and Nazi German occupation of the Balkans during World War II.[4]
According to the Gallup Balkan Monitor 2010 report, the idea of a Greater Albania is supported by the majority of Albanians in Albania (63%), Kosovo (81%) and the Republic of Macedonia (53%).[5][6]
In different territories in Balkans that are inhabited by Albanians, armed forces were created during the 90s.[7] For the list of military/paramilitary organizations see below.
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Prior to the Balkan wars of the beginning of the 20th century, Albanians were subjects of the Ottoman Empire. The Albanian independence movement emerged in 1878 with the League of Prizren (a council based in Kosovo) whose goal was cultural and political autonomy for ethnic Albanians inside the framework of the Ottoman Empire. However, the Ottomans were not prepared to grant The League's demands. Ottoman opposition to the League's cultural goals eventually helped transform it into an Albanian national movement.
The Albanian Fascist Party became the ruling party of the Italian Protectorate of Albania in 1939 and the prime minister Shefqet Verlaci approved the possible administrative union of Albania and Italy, because he wanted the Italian support in order to get the union of Kosovo, Chameria and other "Albanian irredentism" into Greater Albania. Indeed, this unification was realized after the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece from spring 1941. The Albanian fascists claimed in May 1941 that nearly all the Albanian populated territories were united to Albania.[4][9]
Between May 1941 and September 1943, Benito Mussolini placed nearly all the land inhabited by ethnic Albanians under the jurisdiction of an Albanian quisling government. That included the region of Kosovo, parts of the Republic of Macedonia and some small border areas of Montenegro. In Chameria an Albanian high commissioner, Xhemil Dino, was appointed by the Italians; but the area remained under the control of the Italian military command in Athens and so technically remained a region of Greece.
When the Germans occupied the area and substituted the Italians, they maintained the borders created by Mussolini, but after World War II the Albanian borders were returned by the Allies to the pre-war status.
The declaration of independence of Kosovo in 2008 could be interpreted as a degree of success in the creation of a Greater Albania (were such territory to be annexed to Albania or federated with the state), although the United Nations (UN) has stated that if as a result Kosovo becomes independent, annexation to another state would not be possible. In a survey carried out by United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, and published in March 2007 only 2.5% of the Albanians in Kosovo thought unification with Albania is the best solution for Kosovo. 96% said they wanted Kosovo to become independent within its present borders.[10]
| Region (Albanian name) |
Location | Main city (historical center / largest city) |
Area (km²) | Population | Albanian % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic of Albania (Republika e Shqipërisë) |
Republic of Albania | Tirana |
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| Kosovo (Kosovë) | Republic of Kosovo | Pristina |
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| Preševo Valley (Lugina e Preshevës) |
Preševo, Bujanovac and Medvegjë municipalities | Preševo (Presheva) |
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| Western Macedonia | Republic of Macedonia | Tetovo (Tetovë) | |||
| South-Eastern Montenegro | Malesija (Malësi) in Podgorica Municipality and Ulcinj Municipality (Ulqin) | Ulcinj (Ulqin) |
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| Chameria (Çamëria) | Thesprotia regional unit, Epirus, Northwestern Greece | Igoumenitsa (Gumenica) | |||
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Kosovo has an overwhelmingly Albanian majority, estimated to be around 92%.[11]
Montenegro also contains sizeable Albanian populations mostly concentrated in areas such as southern Malësia, the Ulcinj (Ulqini) municipality on the coast, the Tuzi area near Podgorica, and parts of the Plav (Plava) and Rožaje (Rozhajë) municipalities.
The Epirus region of Greece referred to by Albanians as Çamëria is sometimes included in Greater Albania.[8]
According to the 1928 census held by the Greek state, there were around 20,000 Muslim Cams in Thesprotia prefecture. They were forced to seek refuge in Albania at the end of World War II after a large part of them collaborated and committed a number of crimes together with the Nazis during the 1941-1944 period.[12] In the first post-war census (1951), only 123 Muslim Çams were left in the area. Descendants of the exiled Muslim Chams (they claim that they are now up to 170,000, living in Albania) claim that up to 35,000 Muslim Çams were living in southern Epirus before World War II. Many of them are currently trying to pursue legal ways to claim compensation for the properties seized by Greece. For Greece the issue "does not exist".[13]
The western part of the Republic of Macedonia is an area with a large ethnic Albanian minority. The Albanian population in Republic of Macedonia make up 25% of the population.[14] Cities with Albanian majorities or large minorities include Tetovo (Tetova), Gostivar (Gostivari), Struga (Struga), Debar (Diber), Kumanovo (Kumanova) and Skopje (Shkup).[15] In 1992 Albanian activists in Struga proclaimed also the founding of the Republic of Illyriade (Albanian: Republika e Iliridës)[16] with the intention of autonomy or federalization inside the Republic of Macedonia. The declaration had only symbolic meaning and the idea of an autonomous State of Illyriade is not officially accepted by the ethnic Albanian politicians in the Republic of Macedonia.[17][18]
In Central Serbia the municipalities of Preševo (Albanian: Preshevë), Bujanovac (Albanian: Bujanoc) and part of the municipality of Medveđa (Albanian: Medvegjë) include an Albanian population. According to the 2002 census, Preševo contained an overwhelming Albanian ethnic majority of over 90%. Bujanovcac around 54.69% and Medveđa 26.17%. Tense relations between ethnic Serbians and Albanians and also the increased hatred after the Kosovo War, resulted in military actions after the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Preshevës, Medvegjës dhe Bujanocit, UÇPMB) was formed. One of UÇPMB's roles entails seceding these specific municipalities from Serbia and annex them to the independent Republic of Kosovo.
The Albanian question in the Balkan peninsula is in part the consequence of the decisions made by Western Powers in late 19th and early 20th century. The Treaty of San Stefano and the 1878 Treaty of Berlin assigned Albanian inhabited territories to other States, hence the reaction of the League of Prizren.[19] One theory posits that the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Austro-Hungary wanted to maintain a brittle balance in Europe in the late 19th century.
The term "Greater Albania" has also been kept alive in recent years by Serbian nationalist circles in order to justify a Greater Serbia.[20][21]
The degree to which different groups are working towards, and what efforts such groups are undertaking in order to achieve a Greater Albania is disputed. There seems no evidence that anything more than a few unrepresentative extremist groups are working towards this cause; the vast majority of Albanians want to live in peace with their neighbors. However, it must be noted that they also want the human rights of the Albanian ethnic populations in Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Greece to be respected. An excellent example is the friendly relationship between the Republic of Montenegro and the support towards the integration of the Albanian population in Republic of Macedonia - there is Albanian representation in government, the national parliament, local government, and the business sector, and no evidence of systematic discrimination on an ethnic or religious basis against the Albanian (or indeed any other minority) population.
In 2000, then-US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that the international community would not tolerate any efforts towards the creation of a Greater Albania.[22]
This is the list of the political parties that support the creation of Greater Albania:
This is the list of the paramilitary organizations that support the creation of Greater Albania:
International Crisis Group researched the issue of Pan-Albanianism and published a report titled "Pan-Albanianism: How Big a Threat to Balkan Stability?" on February 2004.[23]
International Crisis Group advised in the report the Albanian and Greek governments to endeavour and settle the long-standing issue of the Chams displaced from Greece in 1945, before it gets hijacked and exploited by extreme nationalists, and the Chams' legitimate grievances get lost in the struggle to further other national causes. Moreover, the ICG findings suggest that Albania is more interested in developing cultural and economic ties with Kosovo, whilst maintaining separate statehood.[24]
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