Conclusion

Conclusion

As was said before, the deserving aspirations of the Albanians are the same as those set out back in the last century during the Albanian renaissance - unification of all Albanian regions in a single state. To date this union unfortunately has not been achieved but we cannot blame the Albanians for it. On the contrary, half of the ethnic Albanian territory is still within the control of foreign countries. Consequently, the Albanian national question is still unresolved. More than a century ago, in the wake of the Berlin Congress, Abdul Fraseri, one of the most active ideologues of the Albanian national movement, warned the European offices that: “For as long as the Great Powers punish this heroic and libertarian people and wish them to remain in bondage or far worse - to partition them between the neighbouring countries, the Balkan Peninsula will never have peace because the Albanians will never stop fighting to gain their national independence. Conversely, if the Albanians are granted their national rights, Albania will become a factor of peace in the Balkans”. History gave Abdul Fraseri the right to warn the world that as long as violations are carried out against the Albanian national rights they will be a continued source of concern for Albania, Serbia, the Balkans, and even beyond.

The Albanian Academy of Sciences thinks that history is leading Southeastern Europe towards European integration, regardless of the problems that concern the Balkan Peninsula today.

The Albanian Academy of Sciences also thinks that under the present circumstances when international factors do not allow changes in the current boundaries and as long as radical nationalist pretensions still persist in the Balkan Peninsula, the great goal of the national revival will be achieved gradually, hand in hand with the process of movement of the Balkan integration into the European community. The first step in achieving this great goal is by speedily freeing half of the Albanian nation from the shackles of aggressive nationalism. Under the current circumstances, the Academy of Sciences requires all Albanian democratic forces and the

international factors to jointly weigh in on the recognition of the Republic of Kosovo as a constituent element of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As for the Albanians in Macedonia they should be treated as equal citizens as the Macedonians, meaning, they should be given the right to be a constituent nation. The Albanians in Montenegro on the other hand need to have their own autonomous province. The Albanians in Greece need to have the right to be taught in their native language in the public schools. These are legitimate universally recognized rights, which must not be infringed upon in today’s political boundaries in the countries of the Balkan Peninsula. The Albanian Academy of Sciences is convinced that if the ethnic Albanian territory, annexed by the oppressors, is freed, the neighbouring authorities (especially the Serbians) will also be freed of the burden of being oppressors, as well as the Balkan hotspots from tension. This is the only way to accelerate the process of real democratization in the Balkans. This is the only way to facilitate the marching towards European integration, towards a united Europe in which the political boundaries of the states will no longer have a Chinese wall, but will join Western Europe as ethno-cultural communities, within the borders of friendship and brotherhood.

Published by the Albanian Academy of Sciences, Republic of Albania - Challenges to Democracy in Multiethnic States

By Arben Xhaferi

Edited by Shirley Cloyes, Balkan Affairs Adviser, Albanian American Civic League