Ceku: Division of Kosovo leads to calls for Greater Albania
Any attempt to divide Kosovo would create serious border issues, as Albanians from four Balkan states would want to talk demarcation and possibly unification of all Albanian-dominated regions into a single state, outgoing Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, December 27, 2007
"Albanians live in four countries other than Albania. If Kosovo is partitioned along ethnic lines, those would want to talk about uniting with Albania," Ceku said.
Ceku's warning came just weeks after Albanian leadership strongly denied the plans for unification of all Albanian-dominated regions in a single state, which has been an archaic state project for many decades.
A virtual "Greater Albania" includes Albania proper, Kosovo, western Macedonia, southern Serbia, northeastern Montenegro and northwestern Greece.
In report issued in early 2004, the International Crisis Group warned that "Pan-Albanianism is seen by many observers as a serious threat to Balkan stability", saying, however, that the main advocate of such a state - the Albanian National Army "never managed to gain popular credibility. Violence in the cause of a greater Albania, or of any shift of borders, is neither politically popular nor morally justified".
