Fatos Lubonja
In the Balkans, the issue of minorities is inextricably linked to the issue of building new nation states after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, especially after the two Balkan Wars and then the First World War. These two issues coexist in a contradictory process. This is because, on the one hand, nationalists state-builders see the nation as a living organism which, in order to grow as healthy as possible, must be cleansed of foreign bodies, aiming, in this way, at the homogenization of the population according to ethnicity, language, religion; on the other hand, they are forced to recognize minorities and their rights due to the pressures that comes to them both from these communities and from abroad.
In the process of building the Albanian nation-state after 1920, the dynamic homogenization/recognition of minorities, in terms of the Greek minority, is characterized by the creation of administrative, educational, and religious institutions – often as a response to the policies of the Greek state in relation to the Albanian minority in Greece – as well as by the recognition of the Greek minority, and some rights linked to that especially in the field of education.
This is a dynamic that continues even after a century, albeit in a very different context.
Years 20-39
In south of the Albanian state recognised in 1913 of existed two important communities: the Greeks and the Vlachs. The history of these two communities is different since the Vlachs did not have a state that could build policies for their protection like the Greeks. Thus, while the Vlachs went towards assimilation, to the Greeks was recognized the status of minority by Albania, under pressure from Greece, as this was set as a condition by the League of Nations for the country to be recognized.
As examples of homogenization policies of that period I can mention:
– In the official language of the new Albanian state, the inhabitants of the minority were called grekofon (Grecophone) in the sense that they had originally been Albanians but only later acquired the Greek language. In order to reinforce that the state tried a series of name changes of their villages – some successfully some not – to give them a meaning according to the Albanian language.
Policies were also made to divide the Albanian Orthodox Christians from the Greek ones especially with the creation of the Albanian autocephalous church. (In this aspect, it should be noted that a characteristic of the construction of the Albanian nation-state is that, as far as religion is concerned, homogenization is attempted to be carried out on an ethnic-linguistic basis, weakening religious sentiments in favour of national sentiment, according to the appeal addressed to Albanians by the Catholic nationalist Vaso Pasha: “Don’t look at the church and the mosque/Albanian’s religion is Albanity”.)
In this period, the Albanian state, which remains weak and poor to really change the situation on the ground. It’s the relations with the Greek state are characterized by periods of rapprochement and cooling, often related to the minority issue. As a whole, this can be considered a period with more rights for the Greek minority in Albania than the periods that would follow.
World War Two
An important chapter in the deterioration of relations is the Second World War, which made Albania an enemy of Greece during the Italo-Greek war, and the German occupation, reviving among Albanian nationalists the dream of the union of Çameria with Albania, which further led to the mass expulsion of Çams from Greece that rekindled anti-Greek sentiments in Albania.
The communist period
The ideology of power of the communist regime was a paradoxical syncretism between two homogenizing ideologies, nationalism and communism. The communists made the National Liberation War, as they named it, and after started rebuilding the new state in the name of these two ideologies who legitimized the use of violence as a mean to achieve the objectives. It can be said that the process of building the Albanian nation state, especially in the sense of homogenization as far as national identity is concerned, was completed by the communists (and still remains shaped by their approach).
Thus, starting from 1945, when the policies of terror began to cleanse the country of the enemy elements, together with the Albanian opponents of the communists, many activists of the Greek minority became victims.
Against the interests of Greek minority at this time is also the fact that the Greek state is considered by the national-communists twice as an enemy: in nationalist terms as the state that had invaded Albania during the First World War wanting to take over the South, that had expelled the Chams and as a capitalist state that sought the overthrow of communist system – a system that brought, among other things, isolation, expropriation, collectivization, unique education, etc., which weakened not only the freedoms and rights of the Albanians, but also of the Greek minority.
Nationalism is getting stronger especially after the break with Soviet Union in the early 60s, when the communists had to wave the flag of national sovereignty and pride against what they named “Soviet social imperialism”. In these years the national-Stalinist Albania strengthened relationships with China of the cultural revolution and under its inspiration in 1967 announces the ban on religion, the closing of churches and mosques. During these years another factor of identity differentiation is eliminated, both for all Albanians and for the Greek minority, and the homogenizing practices become much stronger.
However, thanks to the history as well as the existence of the Greek state and a growing international pressure regarding the human rights, the communist state could not ignore some Greek minority rights, which were materialize mainly in Derviçan where Greek language schools continued to exist.
The fall of communism
The fall of communism found the minorities as well as the Albanians in a common predicament: economic survival after the total collapse of the failed economic system. For them, this is the period of mass emigration that also matches the world spirit of the time: the triumph of neoliberal globalism, in which, if we were to paraphrase Thatcher: there is no society but only individuals free to move on their own or together with their capitals where they want and how they want.
Paradoxically in this period, in the Balkans, there is also the awakening of nationalism as a continuation of a process that is considered frozen with the advent of communism. This applies more to the Yugoslav Federation, but Albania is not left out of this spirit, especially as a supporter of Kosovo’s independence and due to the only collective consciousness shaped by the national-Stalinists.
Thus, again we see nationalism as a paradoxical companion of the dominant ideology of the time.
In this dualism between economic needs and identity needs, we see Albanians immigrating en masse to Greece, some even changing their names in order not to be identified as Muslims, but also remaining nationalists who consider their Greek and Serbian neighbours as historical enemies.
Regarding the Greek minority in this period, it can be said that they have in common with the Albanians the mass emigration, the abandonment of their villages and homes, while the most actives of them nurture a feeling of revanchism towards the persecutions they have proved in Albania and start organizing themselves to realise and protect their denied rights during the communist period.
In general, it can be said that although there have been tensions and some incidents between the Albanian state and the Greek minority, they have not been felt so much during the first two decades after the fall of Communism. This is mainly thanks to two factors: firs, that many Albanians found shelter and work in Greece during this period and second, the relations between the Albanian and Greek states have been friendly since they were built in the framework of the common vision of the European Union.
The conflictual relations have intensified especially in Himara during the last ten years, with the culmination of what is now called the “Beleri case” that involved even the Greek government in a diplomatic conflict with the Albanian government.
The main cause of this aggravation stems from a conflict of economic interests created by the Albanian government. The problem is that this government is increasingly working (throughout Albania) according to a criminal scheme: in a vicious circle the drug traffickers bring in the money, the oligarchs associated with them launder this money through the construction industry which is promoted by the politicians who pave the way for these investments through permits and legal favours (such as the law on strategic investors) ensuring in this way even the circulation of money among the general population.
The two most coveted spots to develop this industry are Tirana as the capital and the coast. Especially in the last ten years, this tumour hat continuing will be deadly for common Albanians has grown at a galloping speed, starting to invade the South coast where the Greek minority resides. This invasion has started with the robbery, alienation of property and purchase of lands with the money of crime and their use for tourism megaprojects.
It is clear that a country whose population leaves the country nearly 50% cannot be considered patriotic, nor can the political and cultural elites of this country. Even less those who are investing in this way. But paradoxically, as I said above, nationalism remains an important factor of identity, hence the manipulation. Thus, the robbery of the lands of the Greek minority is sometimes justified directly and sometimes implied as an act driven by patriotic necessity, against those who do harm to Albania, Greek agents, etc. according to the famous slogan of Samuel Jonson: “Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.”
What is the future of the Greek minority?
It is well known a meeting of the Prime Minister Edi Rama in the north of the country with a group of oligarchs before the elections. When one of them told him that the people had left the country and that this was a big problem for their business, he replied: take the Bangladeshis, they have even a good one because they don’t know Albanian and as soon as they learn Albanian the words freedom and democracy are replaced by others.
It is the same man who, with a patriotic rhetoric, attacked Beleri, the candidate of Himara, accusing him of working for an anti-Albanian agenda. It is clear that Samuel Jonson’s saying applies to this guy more than anyone else.
From what I described I find that the future of the Greek minority is shared with that of the most part of the Albanians who have left the country en masse over the last ten years to escape this evil. The narco – oligarchic – neoliberal – globalist – authoritarian state has prepared for the Greek minority the same future it has prepared for the Albanians: the transformation of the country into the property of a super-rich criminal minority where others will have no other chance but to work for them, preferably as individuals without freedom and without identity. In relation to the Albanians the Greek minority, has an additional factor against it: Albanian patriotism as “the last refuge of scoundrels” and a plus factor: the Greek state, the main factor why it has existed until today.
How do you get out of this?
John Locke, the theoretical father of the liberal state in which we are supposed to live in the West today, says that the three natural rights originating from God are Life, Liberty and Property. According to him, the state should be the result of a contract between citizens to create this organism with the duty to protect these three rights from men’s cruelty and avidity. According to him, if the state does not respect this contract sanctioned by the constitution, the people have the right to rebel against it.
If we take him seriously it’s time for rebellion against a state who instead of protecting the property robs it. But the issue of rebellion is complicated because of some difficulties: first people have nothing but their hands to rise up against a state where the police and justice serves their robbers; second, Albanians come from half a century of dictatorship and find it difficult to rebel against the state; third, they do not see any sign that if they rebel they can be supported by the liberal democratic states, where I would also include Greece, because even the system they have set up, despite the obvious differences with Albania, does not like people who take seriously the principles of Locke. I fact Locke himself has been contradictory with his noble principles because simultaneously has defended the robbery of Indian lands and the system of slavery. The idea that all men are equal in front of God is a big lie.
To conclude, if I were to express a wish, I would say that the future of the Greek minority, as well as that of the Albanians, can change for better only through the democratization of Albania, which cannot come without a struggle both internally and externally against the narco – oligarchic – neoliberal – globalist – authoritarian state. But if I were to give a realistic answer, I would say that I am afraid that the robbery and mass emigration of the Greek minority will continue together with the robbery and mass emigration of the Albanian majority.