The
unification of
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
and
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
is a political idea, revived after
Kosovo declared independence in 2008.
This idea has been connected to the
irredentist
Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent st ...
concept of
Greater Albania
Greater Albania is an irredentist and nationalist concept that seeks to unify the lands that many Albanians consider to form their national homeland. It is based on claims on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in th ...
. As of the 2011 census, approximately 93% of Kosovars are ethnic Albanians.
History
During the
1981 protests in Kosovo
In March and April 1981, a student protest in Pristina, the capital of the then Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, led to widespread protests by Kosovo Albanians demanding more autonomy within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ...
, Yugoslavia feared a potential unification of Kosovo with Albania.
In the early 1990s, Albanian politicians' statements were often contradictory on the possibility.
Political activist
Ukshin Hoti
Ukshin Hoti was a Kosovo Albanian philosopher and activist. Hoti was a professor of international law and later philosophy at the University of Pristina and founder of UNIKOMB, a political party of Kosovo. Since 1982 he had been arrested several ...
, 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.
In 2001,
Arben Imami, a politician from the
Democratic Party of Albania
The Democratic Party of Albania ( sq, Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë, PD or PDSH) is a conservative political party in Albania. It has been the largest opposition party in the country since 2013.
The Democratic Party of Albania was founded ...
, stated that unification of Kosovo with Albania should be a party goal, but this statement was met with criticism within his own party.
The
Ahtisaari Plan conditioned Kosovo's independence by adopting a multiethnic “Kosovar,” rather than an Albanian identity.
Still,
Gallup surveys revealed that 75% of Kosovo Albanians would prefer to live unified with Albania in a single country. The same support was seen in Albania where 68% of the citizens of Albania preferred a unification of Albania with Kosovo.
In 2017, some mainstream Albanian politicians, such as
Ben Blushi
Ben Blushi (born 1 January 1969) is an Albanian politician, writer and journalist.
Biography
Ben Blushi, born in Tirana, studied at the University of Tirana, graduating in Albanian language and literature. He was editor-in-chief of the newspaper ...
, have come out in support of unification. In Kosovo, the political party
Vetëvendosje
Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (, en, Self-determination Movement; LVV) is a centre-left to left-wing political party in Kosovo. It is orientated towards principles of social democracy, populism, and Albanian nationalism.
Vetëvendosje was founded in ...
supports unification. A political union between the two states may bring Albania into diplomatic conflict with
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
, which regards
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
as its ''
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
'' territory.
In May 2019, president
Hashim Thaçi
Hashim Thaçi (; born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovar Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the For ...
suggested a referendum on the unification of Kosovo and Albania, if the slow integration process by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
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.
Public opinion
Polls supporting unification of Kosovo with Albania notwithstanding, the goal of Albanian politicians has been entrance into
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, rather than national unification.
Some
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
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.
According to a 2019 poll by
Open Society Foundations that covered 2,504 respondents in both countries, 79.4% of Kosovar Albanian respondents were in favor of unification between Albania and Kosovo, compared to 82.9% of the respondents in Albania. When asked whether they would be willing to pay a tax for unification, 66.1% of respondents in Kosovo agreed, compared to 45.5% in Albania.
A Euronews Albania Barometer poll in 2021 showed 79.2% of
Albanians in Albania supporting unification with Kosovo.
According to a December 2022 survey by UBO Consulting, 60% of Kosovar citizens were pro-unification.
See also
*
Albanian nationalism
Albanian nationalism is a general grouping of nationalist ideas and concepts generated by ethnic Albanians that were first formed in the 19th century during the Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja). Albanian nationalism is also associated w ...
*
Greater Albania
Greater Albania is an irredentist and nationalist concept that seeks to unify the lands that many Albanians consider to form their national homeland. It is based on claims on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in th ...
*
Partition of Kosovo
The partition of Kosovo has been suggested as a solution to the Kosovo question between Serbia and Kosovo. A possible partition would be the division of Kosovo along ethnic lines, such as separating Serb majority North Kosovo, and possibly some ...
Notes
References
External links
Albania and Kosovo to unite, inside EU or not: Albanian PM
{{Irredentism
Albanian irredentism
Albanian nationalism in Kosovo
Albania and Kosovo
Political movements in Albania
Political movements in Kosovo
Albania–Kosovo relations
Proposed political unions
Public policy proposals