Pyotr ISKENDEROV 'Great Albania' Seeks Recognition
The idea of 'Great Albania' is again in the air. On August 3 a proposal to form a separate region in the Presevo Valley with its own institutions and organs was raised in the assembly of the Presevo, Dujanovac and Medvedja municipalities and thus marked a new turn in the evolution of the so-called 'Albanian national question'. Local Albanian separatists are using the Kosovo scenario as a guideline. Obviously, their next step will be to forcibly oust the remaining Serbs and other non-Albanians from the region, ask the international organizations for guarantees and demand that Belgrade started the negotiations on the status of the region. There are all reasons to believe that the Presevo Valley will be recognized as a sovereign state more quickly than Kosovo. Anyway, the Serbian authorities have already been asked to 'immediately begin talks with legitimate Albanian representatives' and 'launch the region's demilitarization' (which means withdrawal of Serbian army and police). Tensions grew in the aforesaid Albanian municipalities in July following a series of attacks on the Serbian police and civilians. The authorities had to send extra troops to the region and introduce other security measures. A response to this was quite predictable (remember Kosovo in 1990s): Serbia was asked to 'stop escalation of tensions and anti-Albanian campaign in the media'. Demographic situation in southern Serbian regions is worth of our attention. It resembles that of Kosovo. In 1961 Albanians made up 68% and Serbs-25% of the population of Presevo, by the year 1991 (when Yugoslavia collapsed), Albanians made up already 90% (with only 8% of Serbs). By that time socialists of Yugoslavia had spent a few decades fighting against mythical 'Serbian nationalism' and creating the most favorable economic, social and political climate for the Albanian population. In 1991-2001 the situation stabilized- however, not due to the return of the Serbs but because of resettlement of many Albanians to the neighboring Kosovo. In 1992 Albanians of Presevo held a referendum to vote for joining Kosovo. In 1999-2001 the region was on fire when Albanian extremists attempted to seize power. The coup was organized and supported from the Kosovo territory, which was already under control of terrorists from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), despite the UN and NATO presence in the region. But the Serbian army and police took decisive measures to stabilize the situation. This time Albanian separatists of Presevo have taken into consideration all the previous mistakes. They waited until Kosovo is recognized by dozens of countries and now claim they have similar rights. Instead of boycotting the local governmental bodies, they now simply oust Serbian politicians and officials from power. As a result, these governmental bodies are being controlled by Albanian separatists. The government of Serbia, with support from Washington and Brussels, blindly obeys the extremists and does nothing to prevent dangerous changes. It is also remarkable that the ongoing escalation of tensions in the Presevo Valley began soon after an influential US congressman Dana Rohrabacher spoke about the necessity of a new territorial division of the Balkans (the idea widely discussed by various experts in recent years). Rohrabacher suggested annexing three south Serbian municipalities to Kosovo, while leaving to Serbia Northern Kosovo with the center in Kosovska Mitrovica. The idea caused serious concerns in Kosovo. Kosovo government spokesman Memli Krasniqi said Hashim Thaci`s cabinet was opposed the idea of territorial division.”We think that exchange of territories and demarcation of borders is not the right thing to do”, said Krasniqi. But what is especially interesting about it is that traditionally well-informed and influential Pristina newspaper Koha Ditore wrote that the idea put forward by Dana Rohrabacher may be welcomed in the Presevo valley. I had a conversation with the representatives of the Bosnian Serbs, who told me that the Republica Srpska also takes seriously this idea of territorial division and creation of two monoethnic states- Serbia and Albania. But the world leaders will hardly fancy the idea of all Balkan Serbs living in a separate state. At least until the Serbian nation unanimously expresses its will (which should be also lobbied by the politicians). But there is no doubt that Albanian activists are ready to go further with the idea of 'Great Albania'. Unlike Serbs, they have already done all preparatory work by lobbying for Kosovo independence. And now this scenario is being implemented in south Serbian municipalities and also in Macedonia. 'Great Albania' is looking for its place in the Balkans. http://en.fondsk.ru/article.php?id=2361
