Nazi-era Albanian group reactivated

May 19, 2008
Source: Politika

Albanian Premier Sali Berisha launched last week in Tirana an initiative on the all-Albanian celebration of the 130th anniversary since the forming of the "Prizren league," inviting the governments of Macedonia and Kosovo to organize a joint celebration.

Berisha's appeal was received in Macedonia in two ways: official Skoplje opposed any kind of celebration at the state level, while Albanian representatives accepted it and commenced with preparations immediately.

The spokesperson of the Macedonian government Ivica Bocevski has stated at first that they didn't receive an official invitation from Tirana, stressing that the government would have nothing to do with such a celebration, because marking significant dates was not in the jurisdiction of the Macedonian parliament. Since the Macedonian parliament was dissolved, the

Macedonian authorities have been amnestied from any obligation towards the proposal of the Albanian premier. Macedonian historians are also on the line of the government stand, who opine that Macedonia's participation in the celebration of the "Prizren league" would be damaging, primarily over the fact that many things stemming from it endanger the integrity and sovereignty of the modern Macedonian state.

One should recall that the "Prizren league" was held on 10 June, 1878 in the Bairakli Mosque in Prizren, that delegates from some ten Macedonian towns in the then Turkish province of Rumenlia took part in its work.

The declaration adopted by the Balkan Albanians at the Prizren gathering commenced the lasting division between Albanians and other nations in the Balkans.

Its first activation in the XXI century occurred on the territory of the Macedonian Republic in the bloody ethnic conflicts in 2001 that ended with the Ohrid Agreement, which is practically the basis for the ongoing federalization of Macedonia. The current attempt of separating Kosovo from Serbia is also based on the "Prizren league."

More on the Prizren league:
Kosovo's Albanian Nazi Past: The Untold Story