Ethnic Albanians query unity deal

By Altin Raxhimi and Avni Zogiani

TIRANA, Albania and PRISTINA, Kosovo -- Ethnic Albanians in Albania, as well as those in Kosovo, mostly support their ethnic kin in the recent fighting in Macedonia. But despite feelings of sympathy, most ethnic Albanians do not take notions of uniting the Albanian people seriously.

Ethnic Albanians in Macedonia and in Kosovo shared the same state for seven decades until Yugoslavia broke up in 1991 -- they shared the same religion, the same language, and many of the same traditions.

There were many marriages across the border uniting families and clans. Most of the ethnic Albanian political elite in Macedonia studied in Kosovo, at what was then the only Albanian-language university in former Yugoslavia, in Pristina.

When the conflict started in Macedonia in March, in the northern village of Tanusevci on the Kosovo border, many in Pristina talked about the close link between them and the village across the border.

In Tirana, the Albanian capital, the mood is sympathetic but less intense, as the country has been less affected by the recent crisis.

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"Albania has received no refugees in this conflict, the country is not a big player, like it was during the one in Kosovo," says Enkel Demi, a political analyst in Tirana.

As many as 450,000 refugees entered Albania during the NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia in the spring and summer of 1999.

Many in Albania say that the demands of the ethnic Albanian community in Macedonia may be just, but think that guerrilla warfare is a bad approach.

"It was the wrong thing to do, and it is the wrong signal that we send to internationals," said Blerim Dibra, 24, who runs a pastry shop in Peshkopia, an Albanian town bordering Macedonia.

"After the help [ethnic] Albanians got in Kosovo, people will think that Albanians are greedy," he said.

"It is like, someone gives you a hand, and you want to take his whole arm," he said, using a popular expression.

Most Albanians are aware of the huge importance the international community plays in their situation.

"The war in Macedonia could have been evaded if the Albanians there would have paid attention to the international factor," says Ymer Mushkollaj, who is chief editor at Epoka e Re, a Pristina-based daily.

"I believe that conflict there will persist until there are more radical developments in politics."

Many in the region have aired fears that -- with support from the international community -- recent ethnic-Albanian insurgencies have the ultimate aim of creating a greater Albania. But to most in Albania, while there is empathy for the plight of their ethnic minorities abroad, that notion is not extended to pushing for one united state.

That can largely be put down to divisions among Albanians. Since Albania became an independent state in 1912, about a half of the ethnic Albanian population remained outside the new state and a mentality gap was created between them and Albanian communities elsewhere.

Under communism, Albania was perhaps the most closed society in the Soviet bloc, with a much lower standard of living than elsewhere in the Balkans, including their ethnic kin in Macedonia and Kosovo.

There are also differences between the southern dialect, Tosk, and the northern dialect, Geg, which Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia speak.

Many others disagree that most Albanians in Macedonia would now want to change the borders.

"The Albanians of Macedonia do see the solution to their problems connected with the developments in Kosovo, but not like the international community perceives it to be," says Gani Zogiani, a law professor at Pristina University.

"Albanians of Macedonia do not want to talk about borders any more, because the borders are a very sensitive issue."

"I think the greater Albania idea would be obsolete for all three communities," says Tirana-based Demi.

"There are big mentality differences."

Others, like Gani Maliqi, a 23-year-old English-language student at Pristina University, are more blunt:

"The internationals who are deciding about everything here, who has power in their hands.

"A greater Albania is not a functioning thing. The differences are too great."

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May 8, 2001

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