A short mirror of the Albanian regional case in history

In November 1944 when at an all Yugoslav meeting of the Joseph Broz Tito partisans there was decided for the future of the Yugoslav Federation it was to include a Yugoslav Macedonia, as one of its constituent parts, but for the Yugoslav Albanians there was prepared another controversial secret and terrible plan!

Tito's Government there was the first to recognize the Yugoslav Macedonia as a distinct ethnic and political entity, in effect, but that Yugoslav Communist Government has never decided the same for Yugoslav's Albanians people who deserved by demographic means rather than Montenegrins, Slovenes or Macedonians.

That Yugoslav's Macedonia has been constituted only for giving more possibilities to the dispersing, as much as possible, of the Yugoslav's Albanians in different other ethnic constituent parts of the then new Yugoslavia in founding.

In the meanwhile, no one can have objection on that that in all the long difficult and terrible history of Albanians in Balkans, their orthodox Slavic neighbors have always seen as different Albanians and accused Albanian nation as "collaborator" of some outer different regional entity, country or religion!

At last but not least, conflicts of interests in Balkans have been clearly between two different ethnicities: Slovenes & Serbs, Croats & Serbs or Macedonian & Serbs. Even the Conflict in Bosnia has been a clear conflict between Croats and Serbs, but the conflict in Kosovo has been conflict between Albanians and Slavs.

The Albanian regional case is raised since with the end of the Turkish Empire domination in the region, in effect. At the time, the Albanian different religion Central Europe countries were trying to found a great Slavic State of Slavic language and of the orthodox religion.

Allied with Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria in 1912 declared war against Turkey and, after Turkish were expelled from Europe; they tried to divide by Slavic principles the liberated zones.

The then Albanians were considered as "collaborators" of Austria because this last country preoccupied since the beginning from the growth of the big Slavic State to its borders, was aiming to impede Serbia to have exit to seas and, favored the regional political Albanian movements on the establishment of an Independent Albanian State.

According to historians this brought the explosion of Serbian nationalism and Serbian anti-Austrian hating, constituting so the first spark of the First World War, but at the same time institutionalizing a permanent difference between Albanians and other regional orthodox Slavic neighbors.

Shortly in London 1912 - 1913 the Conference of Ambassadors of the Great Powers (Britain, Russia, France - Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy) considering Albanians by their religion rather than by nationality, largely ignoring demographic realities in drawing borders of the new Albanian state; ceded the vast region of Kosovo to Serbia, while, in the South, the greater part of Ēamėria zone was given to Greece.

With the world War II Italy and Germany defeated Greece and Yugoslavia and with the same geopolitical purpose of Austria for balancing the orthodox Slavic States into Balkan, the regions of Kosovo and Ēamėria were re-joined to Albania, thereby creating for the first time an ethnically United Albanian State.

But this new Albanian State lasted until November 1944, when the Germans, who had replaced the Italian occupation forces following Italy's surrender in 1943, withdrew from Albanian territories and then Kosovo was reincorporated forcibly into Yugoslavia, and Ēamėria into Greece.

Greece afraid of the same issue of Albanian Ēamėria territories since the beginning of the war with Italy has proclaimed Albania an enemy State and, sequestering the Albanian Ēamėria properties within its administrative territories, declared them as enemy's properties!

After the war the Greece's Ēamėria people mostly Muslims were massacred by crimes carried out by the Greek Chauvinists against the innocent and unprotected Ēamėria population of the area.

At last but not least, the Greece Ēamėria Muslim population was forcibly expelled from its own lands with a final balance: more than 60 villages were rampaged and over 5800 houses were burnt, their properties were plundered and other 150.000 people have been got away from their ancestors' land, without having a chance to see the graves of their parents, brothers, sisters and their children for decades.

At the other hand, the then new Yugoslavia composed by Republics of Serbs, Montenegrins, Slovenes, Croats, Bosniacks and Macedonians, typically as Greece, accusing the Yugoslav's Albanian people for collaboration with nazi-fascist there were also preparing the internal and international opinion for annihilation of his total Albanian case.

Massacres, as to Greece Ēamėria people, followed the Yugoslavia's Albanians after the World War II but never annihilated the Yugoslav's national Albanian issue and Macedonia has been radical as Serbia with Albanians, in effect.

"There is only one thing secure, when the Serbian prisons were full of Albanian political prisoners many of them were sent to serve prisons of Montenegro, Bosnia or Croatia because also the Macedonian prisons were full of Albanians" tells Rexhep Qosja the well known Kosovo Albanian righter by his book "Prohibited People".

The Slav reminiscences are still working in Macedonia

But the irony of nowadays in Macedonia is that the example of Chechnya looks vital to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well to Macedonian Authorities. Putin recently has said that the situation "is getting out of control" and that he will back international military action, "if necessary", to end the fighting making the Macedonian brotherhood to feel stronger.

But these are not good ways to defeat guerrillas or to get people on your side. This will only divide the population further and deepen the crisis - say different annalists from Macedonia, who fear that the fighting, which - according to them - remains still limited to modest battles between security forces and insurgents could spread to the general public.

Despite the National Liberation Army (NLA) of Albanian extremist says it is fighting for greater rights for Albanians, who make up to 35 - 40 % of Macedonia, the Macedonian government says stoically that the Albanian rebels want independence!

NATO and the European Union declare that the time for negotiations has come, but Macedonian troops, backed by helicopters and tanks, try to capture villages held by ethnic- Albanian rebels in hills above Tetovo.

George Robertson and Javier Solana respectively the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Secretary and the EU's security chief, urge the government to start talks with the Albanian community, but nevertheless the Macedonian Military Authority looks anxious to drive out the Albanian extremist.

"An important message to the rebels is that the best thing they can do is to lay down their weapons and start a political life," has said Mr. Solana during the last week high-profile visit to the town of Tetovo, where the Macedonian government has been executed an apparently successful military operation.

By the irony of the case the most allied Macedonian's recent crisis authority approaching there are its most nationhood-doubted neighbors: Bulgaria, Greece and Serbs; countries which do strongly violate the Macedonian minorities rights into their administrative territories, in effect!

One of the Albanian guerrillas representative, who remain unidentified for family safety reason, has told for the Albanian independent Newspapers that the NLA has seized different mercenaries from Ukraine, Bulgaria and Serbia fighting with Macedonian troops.

Every effort should be made to prevent an escalation of military activity," it said after a meeting Council of the EU in Sweden adding that effective internal political reforms and consolidation of a true multiethnic society are indispensable - but despite the clear messages from EU, Greece, the only EU member which negate the minority presence by Constitution into the country, has offered immediate military assistance to Macedonian authorities to seize the Albanian rebels, according to different news agencies.

At the other hand Albania do have an inconsiderable Macedonian minority in its administrative territory who do enjoy the poor economic situation all the Albania's citizens do face but do have the colleges and schools in their own mother tongue.

"There are circulating two terms in the international opinion: that of "a Greater Albania" and the other of "a Greater Kosovo"! These are terms sure not made by Albanian. Such theories there are in no Albanian mind. On the contrary, the Albanian vision is that for the European integration" has said Rexhep Mejdani Albania's president for CNN.

Not too much later, Stipe Mesic the Croatia's President and last Croat Representative of the former Federal Yugoslavia leadership has well come a proposal by Rexhep Mejdani to intermediate to Macedonia crisis, during a visit this last made last week in Zagreb.

"To obtain progress towards Balkan's stability the political regional leaders should dismiss the troubling parameters of last century in relation with borders and nation-state concept and embrace the international concept of integration, which will figure out Europe in the present century." -says Mentor Shkupi Albanian annalist for an Albanian newspaper.

When Great Powers by London Conference of Ambassadors drafted the political map of the Balkans and created the Albanian question as a tragic one of Balkans, it was foreseen by last report to guarantee "free border entering to all Albanian habitants of the region for trade and commerce, which in fact has never been reality by regional chauvinism which feared contacts among all regional Albanians.

In effect, Albanians surely do feel better with the disappearance of the absolute isolated and closed borders to all separated Albanians in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and in Greece.

Naturally this is a wonderful result for the six and more million ethnic Albanians of Balkans, who are scattering across the region to provide a natural foundation of new cooperation between people who share a common language, close family ties, but this cannot absolutely mean a strategy for a "Greater Albania" or "Greater Kosovo" this naturally figure out regional integration.