The scapegoat of Greater Albania amid rising tensions in Macedonia
Nationalist narrative used to stigmatize the minority.
|2017.05.05
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In these circumstances it is important to consider whether the Greater Albania project is actually viable politically, and whether it is supported by Albanians both in Macedonia, and across the Balkans.
Although in principle most Albanians would want to live in one country, rarely do they seek to separate or unify Albanian territories.
Although the myth of a Greater Albania exists, and has been brought up in an incoherent and sporadic way since the time of the Ottoman Empire, it was never a serious political platform.
Albania's former minister for foreign affairs, Paskal Milo, was so dismayed by the amount of times he was asked about Greater Albania, he felt the need to write a brochure refuting the idea.
The problem in Macedonia is not the myth of Greater Albania or the Albanian Platform; the problem is not ethnic at all.
Mehdi Sejdiu
Mehdi Sejdiu comes from a small village in Kosovo and is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of Heidelberg.
DISCLAIMERThe views of the writer do not necessarily reflect the views of Kosovo 2.0.
This story was originally written in Albanian.