Albania PM's 'One Nation' Talk Alarms Serbia

A joint session of the Albanian and Kosovo governments in Tirana has upset Belgrade, which has urged the EU to react to the ‘nationalistic’ remarks of the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama.

Nikola Selakovic, Serbian Justice Minister, said Serbia would not “keep quiet” over the potential creation of a “Greater Albania”, which Selakovic said Edi Rama, the Albanian Prime Minister had endorsed on Monday.

“Serbia cannot and will not keep quiet over the creation of a Greater Albania and they [Albania and Kosovo] do not have to pretend, as it was clear what this is about,” Selakovic told the Serbian state news agency Tanjug on Monday.

The comments came after Rama hosted a joint meeting of the Kosovo and Albanian governments in Tirana on Monday under the slogan “one land, one people, one dream”, where 11 agreements between the two countries were signed.

What upset Belgrade was Rama’s reference to “our dream, national unification through the European Union”, which he called a joint “permanent inspiration”.

The Serbian Justice Minister said Brussels should rein in Albania for making such statements.

“We urge the EU to oppose it, and not to remain silent and look at this benevolently,” Selakovic said.

The Serbian List, the ruling Belgrade-backed party in mainly Serbian northern Kosovo, on Monday said that Rama’s comments posed a threat to Serbs and non-Albanians in Kosovo.

“The joint session of the Albanian and Pristina interim governments unfortunately clearly shows the nationalistic aspirations of the Albanians,” the party wrote.

The eventual union of Albania with Kosovo, which used to be part of Serbia but is mainly Albanian in ethnicity, has long been a nightmare scenario for Serbian governments.

For the two countries concerned, both small and poor, forging closer cultural and economic ties makes sense, however.

Albania’s main political parties have all played the card of nationalism at some time or other, causing disquiet among European Union and US diplomats.

Before the 2013 general election, a small nationalistic party called the Black and Red Alliance polled strongly, although this was not translated into lasting gains in the ballot boxes.

Albania’s former Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, flirted with nationalist ideas, accusing unnamed groups who opposed unification of Albanians of “Albano-phobia”.

Relations between Serbia and Albania have traditionally been dire, and worsened during the conflict in Kosovo in the 1990s when Serbia used brute force to repress separatist agitation.

Tensions between the two countries plunged again during and after the Albania-Serbia Euro 2016 qualifier in October 2014. The match was abandoned when scuffles erupted after a drone bearing a map of Greater Albania was flown over the stadium.

Fighting erupted on the pitch and some Albanian players were assaulted by Serbian fans who had invaded the field.

Serbian officials accused Rama’s brother, Olsi Rama, of holding the remote control for the drone, but he strongly denied such this.

The concept of a Greater Albania is rooted in the aftermath of the Balkans wars of 1912-1913, which redrew the borders in the region.

The new settlement saw the creation of an independent Albania – but it was shorn of many regions that Albanians expected would form part of the new state.

Lands considered by some Albanians as their national homeland include Albania, Kosovo, the southernmost part of Serbia, western Macedonia and bits of Montenegro and Greece.