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FOREWORD Romanians, Hungarians, Germans, Roma, Ukrainians, Turks, Tatars, Albanians, Armenians, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Jews, Italians, Poles, Lippovan Russians, Serbs, Slovaks, Czechs, Macedonians, Ruthenians – they are citizens of Romania in 2005 and before long citizens of the European Union. Romania’s large array of national minorities, who intermingled for centuries with the majority population, inspired us to conceive Romania as a small scale reproduction of the European mosaic of ethnicities, languages, cultures, beliefs and traditions. This is why we intituled this book Romania, a Europe in miniature. We are bound to Europe through the respect and the openness towards ethno-cultural diversity and the commitment to the same values; therefore we believe in the value we can add to the European human and cultural heritage. Since this is a book about national minorities, it is worth mentioning that the Romanian experience in managing interethnic relations is internationally recognised as a positive practice. Cooperation with other countries and European institutions and organisations in the field is extremely rewarding. The statute of national minorities in Romania is carefully observed since it is one of the political criteria Romania needed to fulfil for accession to the European Union. The steps taken so far have been appreciated accordingly and brought Romania closer to the integration in the European Union. We dedicate this publication to the event of 25 April 2005 when Romania signed the Treaty for accession to the European Union, an event celebrated both by majority population and national minorities. We thank all who made a contribution to producing this publication, launched on Europe Day and included in the Diversity Week in Romania. We thank the European Commission for the support in publishing this book, which is a statement – we hope – that we all are For Diversity, Against Discrimination. Attila MARKÓ Secretary of State Department for Interethnic Relations GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA Romania, a Europe in miniature Brief presentation of national minorities. Paper published with the financial support of the European Commission through the Community Action Programme to combat discrimination (2001-2006) The Albanians “Close cousins of the Romanians” if we are to believe Iorga, the Albanians have been present for many centuries on Romanian territory where they have been living in good peace and friendship. It is here where they could organize and start the national liberation movement. However, nowadays the number of Albanians living in Romania is very little and they struggle to keep their specific language and culture. Brief historical background Descending from the old Iliri, the Albanians are the ancient inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula, being here long before the coming of the Slavs. They knew and they were part of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine civilizations, and afterwards they were under the domination of the Ottoman Empire for five centuries, domination that led to a process of complete islamization of this people. In an important moment of East-European history, at Kossovopolje, in 1389, in the battle of the Christian Balkan peoples against the Turks we will find the Albanians fighting on the same side as the other Christian populations. Another crucial moment is marked by the 15th century, when under the ruling of the national hero - Gheorghe Castiotul Skanderbeu, most of the Albanian feudal principalities united temporarily in an independent Albania, with the capital at Kruja. In the fight against the Turks’ advancing in Europe, the project of a junction between the Christian armies led by Skanderbeu and those of Iancu of Hunedoara was registered. After Skanderbeu’s death in 1468, there starts the process of disintegration of independent Albania and at the same time the process of emigration of the Albanians who didn’t want to remain under the domination of the Ottoman Empire. Many Albanians took to Italy, especially those from the northern Balkan territories belonging to the rich walks of society: noblemen, military and religious leaders, intellectuals and merchants. They took with them goods of the cultural and national patrimony so as not to get in the possession of the Ottomans. Others took to the Romanian countries, the first paper to mention the presence of Albanians on Romanian territories dating from 12/24 March 1595, written by Giovani de Marini Poli, the messenger of the Habsburg emperor Rudolf the 2nd in the Romanian countries, sent from Alba Iulia to Bartolomeu Pezen, imperial counsellor at the court of Wien. This paper shows that Mihai Viteazul allowed a number of 15,000 Albanian souls (men with their families) to settle down in the north of the Danube, in the Romanian Principality. It is considered to be the first paper that proves the beginning of the existence of Albanians as a distinct community on Romanian territories. For the next two centuries the documents refer to Albanians (mercenaries) and Albanian merchants, to the reign of the voivodes from the Ghicas and to the reign of the prince of Moldavia, Vasile Lupu, also named the Albanian (1634-1635). In 1602, the voivode Simion Movila renewed in an act the privileges offered by Mihai Viteazul to the Albanians settled in Calinesti village, Prahova county, acquitting them from tributes and taxes for another ten years. Thus, attested for over 400 years on the present Romanian territory, the Albanian community has been an active and remarked presence all this time. As they came from the Romanian countries because of the persecutions of the Ottoman administration, the Albanians, especially the soldiers, merchants, and high officials will easily integrate in the political and cultural life due to some similarities of the language and habits. Named by Nicolae Iorga “close cousins of the Romanians”, the Albanians will become here merchants, artisans and skilful workers, mercenaries in the royal guards, men of science and culture. In the cities, the Albanians were especially tradesmen, owner of restaurants, confectioners, grocers, many of them becoming intellectuals. But the golden century of the Albanian community is considered to be the 19th century. At the time, Bucharest was an important centre of support for the liberation movement and national rebirth of the Balkan peoples. The Albanians in Romania took part in the revolutionary movement in 1821, both in Tudor Vladimirescu’s army as well as in Alexandru Ipsilanti’s (a Greek prince). The patriot and scholar Naum Panajot Veqilhaergi, native of southern Albania, but one of the most respectable citizens of Braila, will be a forerunner of the movement for Albania’s national rebirth, known as Rilindja Kombetare Shqiptare. He will also be the author and the publisher of the first Albanian primer, published in Romania in 1844. The Romanian Princess of Albanian origin Elena Ghica (1828-1888, known as Dora d’Istria) published many articles to make known the Albanian national cause to the public opinion. She also drew up the first monograph of the Albanians in Romania, entitled “Gli albanesi inRumenia” published in Florence in 1873. In the volume “The history of the Albanian community in Romania”(1992) the scholar Gelu Maksutovici says about Dora d’Istria that “she is the most brilliant star on the sky of unhappy Albania”, carrying on a tenacious and laborious activity in defending the national rights of the Balkan peoples, as well as acting towards women’s emancipation and expanding knowledge of the folklore in this region. After the Congress of Peace in Berlin (1878) which refused to take into account the requests regarding the autonomy of Albanian territories, the League from Prizren in Kosovo was formed, acting as national government, but was defeated by the Ottoman military intervention. The Albanians from Romania will form cultural societies with the obvious aim of supporting the Albanian National Liberation movement. These cultural societies will operate on a cultural and political level in order to acquire the state independence of Albania. In this period the number of Albanians increases to over 30,000, inhabiting especially cities like Bucharest, Braila, Constanta, Ploiesti, Craiova, Calarasi, Iasi, Focsani. They are registered as merchants, craftsmen, but also as doctors, lawyers, architects, constructors as well as mercenaries (guardians in the boyars’ guards). Among the Albanian cultural societies in Romania we mark out “The Albanian Writing Society” founded in 1881 as a branch of the one in Constantinople, “Drita” (The Light) society 1884 with branches in many more towns, under whose care functioned a normal school training teachers that were sent to the Albanian schools in Albania as well as to an Albanian-Romanian institute. The tradition of Albanian publications starts in the 19th century, when books of major importance for the Albanian culture were published in Romania. In 1881 the renaissance scholar Jani Vreto (1820-1900) came from Constantinople to Bucharest to lay the foundations of the first printing house that was to print books in the Albanian language. Here, the Albanian poet Naim Frasheri published for the first time his literary works that constituted the foundation of the Albanian literature. It was then that many publications were published, among which the newspaper “Drita” in Braila, 1887, publication followed a year later by the magazine “Shqiptari” (The Albanian), published by the Albanian national patriot Nikolla Nacio. All these publications were in the