Responding to the article in the Economist I mentioned in a previous post, someone left a comment referring me to the report of the International Commission on the Balkans. The Commission's research suggested that Albanians in both Albania and Kosovo are much more open to the possibility of unity than the Economist article claims. Below are the Commission's conclusions in written and graphical form.
According to the survey, the breakdown of Macedonia and the establishment of a Greater Albania are two developments that could destabilise the region. The results of the survey show a relatively high acceptance of the idea of a "Greater Albania" among the Albanian populations of both Kosovo and Albania. As a whole, they differ from other groups in the region in their view that a future unification of Kosovo and Albania is both desirable and possible (figure 6). This suggests that the process of nation-building among Albanian communities in the Balkans is still in progress. If the international community fails to offer a convincing European perspective to the region, it might bolster support for a Greater Albania or a Greater Kosovo among Albanians. The international community should send a clear message that Greater Albania or Greater Kosovo is not an option.
Comments
I don't see any point, when it comes to the idea of a greater Albania. Even though it might be flattering, I still believe in the identity of each Albanian community within the borders of each country, i.e. Macedonia, Montenegro. Both countries have mixed communities, and if the Albanian part is taken out, we risk in loosing the equilibrium, and their existence. Kosovo as an independent country will have to be the last piece in the southeastern european puzzle.
The future stands in EU for each of these nations, and that, de facto is a union.
There are brands of Albanians yes! You have your nationalists in Kosov. You have your oportunists in Albania. You have your islamists in FYROM. You have your catholics in Montenegro/Highlands.
However they all belong to the same house and must be under the same roof. The wheels of this vision were set in motion by Italian-Albanians 2 centuries ago.
It flies in the face of the modern 'multi-cultural' paradigm..yes. But that paradigm is a sham anyway.
Greater Albania would mean Albania taking over other lands and expulsing the people and have Albanians settle in.
This what the Greeks did after WW2 but it wasn't called a Greater Greece.
Serbia is trying and has done this. they took Vojvodina and expelled Hungarians and treated them as second class citizens on their land. They tried it with Kosovo.
For Albanians this would not be creating a greater Albania but to Albanians this is establishing an Ethnic Albania. You see the difference.
Look people Albanians are not Slavs nor are they Greek. Albanians have enemies on all sides of the borders. Other ethnic groups tried to assimilate Albanians, by changing their names, by taking Albanian land, by taking away the Albanian culture or stealing the Albanian culture and kill Albanians. Albanians are not in it for power, Albanians are in for their indeities and culture. A culture that is purely Albanian without Slavic or Greek influence.