Kosovo's unification with Albania

Location of Kosovo and Albania within Europe.

Kosovo's unification with Albania is a political idea, revived by the independence of Kosovo.[1] Although not politically articulated, the unification could become a reality as a result of unification of education, which could generate a demand for political unification.[2]

History

During the 1981 protests in Kosovo Yugoslavia feared a potential unification of Kosovo to Albania.[3] In early 1990s Albanian politicians' statements were contradictory in regards.[4]

Political activist Ukshin Hoti, founder of the Party of Albanian National Union, and eventually killed by the Serbian police in 1999, was a very vocal supporter of the unification of Kosovo with Albania.[5]

In 2001 Arben Imami, a relevant Albanian politician, stated that unification of Kosovo with Albania should be a party goal, but was quickly criticized by his own party.[6]

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 the same country. The same support was seen in Albania where 68% of the citizens of Albania preferred a unification of Albania with Kosovo.[7]

Polls supporting unification of Kosovo with Albania notwithstanding, the goal of Albanian politicians has been entrance into NATO and the EU, rather than national unification.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sharon L. Wolchik; Jane Leftwich Curry (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
  2. ↑ Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers; Bernd Jürgen Fischer (2002). Albanian Identities: Myth and History. Indiana University Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-253-21570-3.
  3. ↑ Howard Clark (2000). Civil Resistance in Kosovo. Pluto Press. pp. 44–. ISBN 978-0-7453-1569-0.
  4. ↑ Geert-Hinrich Ahrens (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. ISBN 978-0-8018-8557-0. 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
  5. ↑ Heike Krieger (12 July 2001). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974-1999. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-521-80071-6.
  6. ↑ Maria Koinova (1 July 2013). Ethnonationalist Conflict in Postcommunist States: Varieties of Governance in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Kosovo. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-8122-0837-5.
  7. ↑ 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 0-8122-4497-4.
  8. ↑ 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.
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