EU’s Oriental Question

Outline of a Study Trip to , , , , , and Shkoder

The Oriental Question of the 18th century seems to have been answered by the emergence of nation- states in the 19th and 20th centuries: , , , , , and finally as successor states of the . And in the 1990s and Bosnia and Hercegovina followed suit. Finally, in 2017/18 even the longstanding ‘nuclear core‘ of the former Oriental Question, the Macedonian Question as the and ‘apple of discord‘ in the , seems to have been defused by bilateral agreements between Skopje and as well as between Skopje and . Still, however, not all is quiet in what in EU terminology is called the Western Balkans: Inside Bosnia and Hercegovina the -controlled Republika Srpska challenges the central government in and Serbia has not yet recognized the split-away in 2008 Republic of .

The latter post-conflict is part of what one could describe as the so far last ripples of the Oriental Question—the Albanian Question, i.e., the fact that speakers of Albanian are today distributed among five countries of EU’s Western Balkans: Albanian, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro (with small autochthonous groups in Greece and Bulgaria).

Since the implosion of Tito’s in 1991, quite a number of Albanian political actors – party leaders, intellectuals, religious authorities, (para)militaries and others in the countries in question opt for what they call ‘a ‘. (‘Great‘, by the way, it would not be since the overall number of Albanian-speakers in the Balkans is not more than five millions – as it would not be homogeneous in terms of religion – Muslim, Orthodox, and Catholic – nor linguistically since separated by the Geg/Tosk linguistic divide.) Nevertheless, since 1991 the demand for a ‘Greater Albania‘ is put forward regularly, symbolized by the flying of the ‘all Albanian‘ national flag of the black eagle on red ground. The top promotor are parts of the elite of Albania with strong support by political actors in Kosovo and in the densely Albanian populated and semi-autonomous parts of Macedonia.

Recently, the discussion by politicians in Kosovo and Serbia on an ethnically based exchange of territories between the two neighbouring countries has fuelled the debate on a – even greater – ‘Great Albania‘. While has no consolidated answer neither to this potentially explosive bilateral dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade nor to the spectre of the ‘Greater Albania‘ design, global actors use the opportunity to get their feet on the ground in the region: The Russian Federation politically and culturally in Serbia and Macedonia (and, so far unsuccessfully, in Montenegro), Wahabite Saudi Arabia via its religious foundations in Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia, and the People’s Republic of China economically, financially, and infrastructurally in the whole region (including, in particular, Greece). Furthermore, the US military presence in the region – Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo – is still massive.

In other words: As in the times of the Oriental Question and the Pentarchy of the five European empires in the 18th and 19th centuries – Great Britain, , , Prussia-Germany and the Sublime Porte –, also today the (‘Western‘) Balkans are the crossroads of great power interest and activities in a global age. And the Albanian Question has the potential to function or to be instrumentalized as the ignitor to the ‘powder keg‘ of the Balkans, this ethopolitically, economically, and socially unstable part of (non- resp. not yet-EU-).

After the study trips with international PhD candidates of GSGAS in 2013-2018 to the three parts of historical Macedonia (Bulgaria, Greece, and Republic of – since recently: Northern-Macedonia), Estonia, the Southern Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh) and to the theatres of the Russia-Ukraine conflict (Donbass, Sea of Azov and Odessa), all financed by the IPID4all programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), for 2020 a field trip to Tirana, capital of Albania, Pristina, capital of Kosovo, and Tetovo, main city of Albanian-populated is planned.

Itinerary

31.03.2020 – 07.04.2020

1. Tag 31.03.: Flight to Skopje, bus ride to Pristina (Ü Pristina)

2. Tag 01.04.: Meetings in Pristina with the president, prime minister, media, university, political parties (Ü Pristina)

3. Tag 02.04.: Visit to US Camp Bondsteel and German KFOR Unit in Prizren (Ü Prizren)

4. Tag 03.04.: Visit to Shkoder (university, mayor’s office, catholic bishop) (Ü Tirana)

5. Tag 04.04.: Tirana (government, political parties, university, religious leaders) (Ü Tirana)

6. Tag 05.04.: Bus ride via and Cafa San to Tetovo (Ü Tetovo)

7. Tag 06.04.: Tetovo: Mayor’s office, political parties, Albanian University, OSCE University, religious leaders (Ü Tetovo)

8. Tag 07.04.: Meetings in Skopje with ministries, political parties, journalists, Cyril and Methodius University, Leaving from Skopje Airport 18.55