Unification of Albania and Kosovo

The unification of Albania and Kosovo is a political idea, revived after Kosovo declared independence in 2008.[2] This idea has been connected to the irredentist concept of Greater Albania.[3][4][5] As of the 2021 census, approximately 97% of Kosovars are ethnic Albanians.[6]

Subdivision Area km2 Population[7] Gross domestic product
 Albania28,7482,793,592€17.940 billion
 Kosovo10,8871,761,985€8.955 billion
Greater Albania39,6354,555,577€26.895 billion
Location of Albania (red) and Kosovo (orange) within Balkans
Location of Albania (red) and Kosovo (orange) within Balkans
Largest cityTirana
Area
• Total
39,635 km2 (15,303 sq mi)
Population
• 2022 estimate
4,555,577
• Density
115/km2 (297.8/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)2022 estimate
• Total
€26.9 billion[1]
• Per capita
€5,800

History

The prospect of Kosovo unifying with Albania dates back to the close relations of immediate post-World War II FPR Yugoslavia and PR Albania, when Yugoslavia offered the Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija in exchange for Albanian integration into a future Balkan Federation. These plans were cut short by a solid turn to sharp antagonism between the two countries after the Tito–Stalin split in 1948.[8]

During the 1981 protests in Kosovo, Yugoslavia feared a potential unification of Kosovo with Albania.[9] In the early 1990s, Albanian politicians' statements were often contradictory on the possibility.[10] Political activist Ukshin Hoti, founder of the Party of Albanian National Union, who disappeared while in Serbian police custody in 1999, was an ardent supporter of the unification of Kosovo with Albania.[11] In 2001, Arben Imami, a politician from the Democratic Party of Albania, stated that unification of Kosovo with Albania should be a party goal, but this statement was met with criticism within his own party.[12]

The Ahtisaari Plan conditioned Kosovo's independence by adopting a multiethnic “Kosovar,” rather than an Albanian identity.[13] Still, Gallup surveys from 2007 revealed that 73% of Kosovo Albanians believed that in an ideal world Albanians would live united in one country. The same support was seen in Albania where 68% of the citizens of Albania agreed with this statement.[14] However, support for unification declined after Kosovo declared independence - support for unification in Kosovo declined to 54% in 2008,[15] and a later poll by the Albanian Institute for International Studies from 2010 showed that 37% of surveyed Albanians considered unification of Albania with Kosovo as neither positive or negative, while 35% saw it as negative and only 9% considered it a positive development.[16] In 2017, some mainstream Albanian politicians, such as Ben Blushi, have come out in support of unification.[17] In Kosovo, the political party Vetëvendosje supports unification. A political union between the two states may bring Albania into diplomatic conflict with Serbia, which regards Kosovo as its de jure territory.

In May 2019, president Hashim Thaçi suggested a referendum on the unification of Kosovo and Albania, if the slow integration process by the European Union does not accelerate. However, some simply view this as an attempt by Thaçi to “keep himself in the spotlight”, without any real intention of uniting the two countries.[18] In 2011, Albanian Foreign Minister Edmond Haxhinasto called the prospect of national unification of Albania and Kosovo "damaging" and stated that "Albanian integration will be achieved through integration in the European Union, when our entire region and all states where Albanians live are members of the EU"; Kosovo political leaders agreed with Haxhinasto's opinion.[19]

Public opinion

Before Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008, support for the unification of Albania and Kosovo was low. According to a 2005 poll, only 10% of Kosovars at the time supported a union of Albania and Kosovo. In 2007, The Economist concluded that "younger Albanians in Kosovo have developed a Kosovar identity of their own", and that in Albanian politics, a possible unification with Kosovo was not seen as a relevant issue and a possible accession to the EU was a far more important concern for Albanians. A lack of economic integration between Kosovo and Albania was also noted - Albania did not rank among Kosovo's top 10 importers.[20] Following the Kosovo's declaration of independence, a 2010 Balkan Insight poll showed that only 29.2% of Kosovar Albanians surveyed supported a limited realisation of Greater Albania in the form of a union between Albania and Kosovo.[21]

Polls supporting unification of Kosovo with Albania notwithstanding, the goal of Albanian politicians has been entrance into NATO and the European Union, rather than national unification.[22] Some Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian Albanians fear that any possible unification of Balkan areas that bring sizable numbers of Muslims into the new state may lead to an increasing "Muslimization" of Albania.[23] There is also a regional divide on the issue of national unification in Albania - while the northern Gheg Albanians favour the unification of Kosovo and Albania, Southern Tosk Albanians tend to oppose it, fearing that the annexation of Kosovo would lead to "a rule of the North".[24]

According to a 2019 poll by Open Society Foundations that covered 2,504 respondents in both countries, 54% of Kosovar Albanian respondents were in favor of unification between Albania and Kosovo, compared to 63% of the respondents in Albania.[25][26] Those who oppose unification believe that Kosovo and Albania would function better as separate countries, and that Kosovo and Albania have a different culture and tradition.[27] When asked whether they would be willing to pay a tax for unification, 43.5% of respondents in Kosovo agreed, compared to 29.5% in Albania.[28] However, the majority of respondents believe that the unification of Kosovo and Albania and accession to the EU are mutually exclusive, with only 29.6% of respondents in Kosovo and 46.5% respondents in Albania believing that these two processes do not contradict each other.[29] In this regard, 66.4% of Kosovar Albanian respondents and 84.7% of Albanian respondents believe that their country should seek accession to the European Union rather than national unification.[30]

A 2020 article by Tirana Times raised several issues related to the possible unification of the two countries. About 42% of respondents in Kosovo and 37% in Albania considered accession to the EU and the unification of two countries as contradictory processes. In Albania, 76% of respondents believed that the development of relations between Albania and Kosovo would benefit both sides equally, while 59% of Kosovar respondents believed so. Regarding the unification between Albania and Kosovo, 63% of Albanian and 54% of Kosovar Albanian responders expressed their support of it, but when asked if they would still support unification even if it required a tax, support dropped to 29% in Albania and 44% in Kosovo, respectively. Tirana Times argues that the relatively lower support for unification in Kosovo shows "the raise in Kosovo-centered stream of thinking and identity over the first decade of its statehood". According to the newspaper, "the poll clearly indicates that, in addition to the Kosovo part that was more highly integrated with Yugoslavia, now the post-war middle class of Kosovo is also finding it easier to identify with the new state of Kosovo than with its old, Albanian-tied identity."[31]

A Euronews Albania Barometer poll in 2021 showed 79.2% of Albanians in Albania supporting unification with Kosovo.[32] In a September 2021 poll by the Kosovar Center for Security Studies (QKSS) and the National Endowment for Democracy, 55% of Kosovar Albanian respondents were in favour of Kosovo's unification with Albania.[33]

According to a December 2022 survey by UBO Consulting from Prishtina, 60% of Kosovar citizens were pro-unification.[34]

See also

References
  1. "Gross domestic product at market prices (Current prices and per capita)". Eurostat.
  2. Wolchik, Sharon L.; Curry, Jane Leftwich (2011). Central and East European Politics: From Communism to Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 390. ISBN 978-0-7425-6734-4. Undoubtedly, Kosovo's independence has revived the idea of the national unification of Albanians
  3. Mabry, Tristan James; McGarry, John; Moore, Margaret; O’Leary, Brendan (2013). Mabry, Tristan James; McGarry, John; Moore, Margaret; O'Leary, Brendan (eds.). Divided Nations and European Integration. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 175. doi:10.9783/9780812208276. ISBN 978-0-8122-4497-7. JSTOR j.ctt3fj4hj.
  4. Cohen, Lenard J.; Dragović-Soso, Jasna (2008). State Collapse in South-Eastern Europe: New Perspectives on Yugoslavia's Disintegration. Purdue University Press. p. 194. doi:10.2307/j.ctt6wq21x. ISBN 9781557534606. JSTOR j.ctt6wq21x.
  5. Langley, Winston (2013). Langley, Winston (ed.). Encyclopedia of Human Rights Issues Since 1945. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203058633. ISBN 9781579581664. OCLC 42137564.
  6. "Kosovo", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2022-12-14, retrieved 2022-12-21
  7. "Population on 1 January". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  8. Raymond Zickel and Walter R. Iwaskiw, ed. (1994). "Albania: A Country Study: Albanian-Yugoslav Tensions". Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  9. Clark, Howard (2000). Civil Resistance in Kosovo. Pluto Press. p. 44. doi:10.2307/j.ctt18fsc6d. ISBN 978-0-7453-1569-0. JSTOR j.ctt18fsc6d. OCLC 50825297.
  10. Ahrens, Geert-Hinrich (6 March 2007). Diplomacy on the Edge: Containment of Ethnic Conflict and the Minorities Working Group of the Conferences on Yugoslavia. Woodrow Wilson Center Press. p. 323. doi:10.1515/soeu-2009-570111. ISBN 978-0-8018-8557-0. OCLC 70122485. S2CID 149097600. CSCE mission of May 1992 judged that "on the question of the relations with Albania and of a possible unification, the answers were unclear, vague, and sometimes contraddictory
  11. Krieger, Heike (12 July 2001). Krieger, Heike (ed.). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974-1999. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511720802. ISBN 978-0-521-80071-6. OCLC 59550258.
  12. Koinova, Maria (1 July 2013). Ethnonationalist Conflict in Postcommunist States: Varieties of Governance in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Kosovo. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 197. doi:10.9783/9780812208375. ISBN 978-0-8122-0837-5. JSTOR j.ctt3fhscq. OCLC 859161691.
  13. Tristan James Mabry; John McGarry; Margaret Moore; Brendan O'Leary (30 May 2013). Divided Nations and European Integration. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-8122-4497-7.
  14. McGarry 2013, p. 182: "According to this data, 73 percent of Albanians in Kosovo (of whom 51 percent strongly agreed) believe that in an “ideal world” all Albanians should live united in one state. Over 75 percent agreed that unification would be a positive solution to the Albanian question by improving security, economic, cultural, and national development."
  15. McGarry 2013, p. 182: "Gallup Balkans Monitor surveyed Albanians in Kosovo after its declaration of independence in 2008: support for unification dipped to 54 percent."
  16. Ilir Kalemaj (2014). "Albanian-Kosovo relation: Quo Vadis?" (PDF). Tirane: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. pp. 15–16. Contradicting data from Gallup polls, a 2010 survey taken by Albanian Institute for International Relations (AIIS) reveal an altogether different picture: from the poll sample in Albania, 37 percent of the interviewed people think that the unification of Albania with Kosovo is neither positive, nor negative, 35 percent think that it is negative and only 9 percent think of it as positive.
  17. "Blushi: Nëse ndryshojnë kufijtë, Kosova të bashkohet me Shqipërinë [video]".
  18. "Thaci's Pan-Albania Union Plea Scorned as Populism". Balkan Insight. 2019-06-03. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  19. McGarry 2013, p. 186: "On March 18, 2011, prior to the start of EU-led dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, Albania’s Foreign Minister Edmond Haxhinosto called ideas of territorial unification or exchange “damaging”; he stated, “Albanian integration will be achieved through integration in the European Union, when our entire region and all states where Albanians live are members of the EU.” Kosovo’s leaders echo this kind of rhetoric."
  20. "What happened to Greater Albania?". The Economist. January 18, 2007. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  21. Besar Likmeta (November 17, 2010). "What happened to Greater Albania?". balkaninsight.com. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  22. Henry H. Perritt (2010). The Road to Independence for Kosovo: A Chronicle of the Ahtisaari Plan. Cambridge University Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-521-11624-4.
  23. Lesser, Ian O.; Larrabee, F. Stephen; Zanini, Michele; Vlachos-Dengler, Katia (2001). Greece's new geopolitics. Santa Monica: Rand Corporation. p. 51. ISBN 9780833032331.
  24. Attila, Fodor (2022). "Albania and Kosovo – Common Ties, Common Issues" (PDF). Foreign Policy Review. Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade. 15 (1): 143–168. doi:10.47706/KKIFPR.2022.1.143-168. ISSN 2064-9428. S2CID 258578559. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  25. Demi, Agron; Çeka, Blendi (2019). Kosovo-Albania Interaction, knowledge, values, beliefs, cooperation and unification (PDF) (Report). Open Society Foundations. p. 38. Retrieved 2021-04-09. Regarding the desire to achieve national unification, 63% of respondents in Albania and 54% of respondents in Kosovo state that they want to achieve it.
  26. Attila, Fodor (2022). "Albania and Kosovo – Common Ties, Common Issues" (PDF). Foreign Policy Review. Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade. 15 (1): 143–168. doi:10.47706/KKIFPR.2022.1.143-168. ISSN 2064-9428. S2CID 258578559. Retrieved 2023-06-16. The perhaps most important finding concerns people's attitude towards national unification, 63% of the responders in Albania and 54% in Kosovo were in favour of it.
  27. Demi, Agron; Çeka, Blendi (2019). Kosovo-Albania Interaction, knowledge, values, beliefs, cooperation and unification (PDF) (Report). Open Society Foundations. p. 44. Retrieved 2021-04-09. The most frequent reason cited by Albanian respondents in Albania and Kosovo has to do with the belief that the separate states of Kosovo and Albania would work better. A considerable part of those who oppose joining under one state do so also under the conviction that Kosovo Albanians and Albania Albanians have differences in culture and tradition.
  28. Demi, Agron; Çeka, Blendi (2019). Kosovo-Albania Interaction, knowledge, values, beliefs, cooperation and unification (PDF) (Report). Open Society Foundations. p. 38. Retrieved 2021-04-09. But when asked if they would be willing to pay a tax which would enable national unification, respondents' willingness declined, with only 29.5% of respondents in Albania and 43.5% of respondents in Kosovo agreeing to such a tax.
  29. Demi, Agron; Çeka, Blendi (2019). Kosovo-Albania Interaction, knowledge, values, beliefs, cooperation and unification (PDF) (Report). Open Society Foundations. p. 48. Retrieved 2021-04-09. The national unification and EU accession of Albania and Kosovo are seen as processes which contradict each other by 42% of respondents in Kosovo and 37% of respondents in Albania.
  30. Demi, Agron; Çeka, Blendi (2019). Kosovo-Albania Interaction, knowledge, values, beliefs, cooperation and unification (PDF) (Report). Open Society Foundations. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-04-09. Albanians in both countries, more specifically 84.7% of respondents in Albania and 66.4% in Kosovo, would prefer the European Union to national unification.
  31. "Kosovo-Albania future: the many 'but-s' that follow the idea of unification". tiranatimes.com. Tirana Times. January 14, 2020. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  32. "Barometer: 80% of Albanians support unification with Kosovo". Euronews Albania. November 25, 2021.
  33. Fetiu, Dea; Vrajolli, Mentor (July 2022). "Citizens Perceptions on Bilateral Relations between Kosovo and Albania". Two Opposite Viewpoints : Overview on How Citizens see Kosovo Bilateral Relations with Serbia and with Albania? (PDF). p. 18. ISBN 978-9951-799-67-6. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  34. "Survey: 60% of Kosovo citizens want unification with Albania". Kosovo Online. December 15, 2022.
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