ACFC/SR(2001)005 ______ REPORT SUBMITTED BY ALBANIA PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 25, PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES ______ (Received on 26 July 2001) _____ Report on National Minorities in Albania – 2001 ACFC/SR(2001)005 FIRST REPORT submitted by the REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA under Article 25, paragraph 1, of the Council of Europe's FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES 2001 * * * Table of contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 4 Part I.................................................................................................................................... 5 General Information on Albania ......................................................................................... 5 Geographical position ......................................................................................................... 5 Brief historical view............................................................................................................ 5 Population............................................................................................................................ 5 State organization................................................................................................................ 6 Economic situation..............................................................................................................7 General information on national minorities ........................................................................ 8 Albanian state policy towards national minorities .............................................................. 9 Brief historical view on national minorities living in Albania..........................................11 Greek national minority .................................................................................................... 11 Macedonian national minority .......................................................................................... 14 Montenegrin national minority.......................................................................................... 15 Roma ................................................................................................................................. 15 Aromanians ....................................................................................................................... 16 Part II................................................................................................................................. 18 Article 1............................................................................................................................. 18 Article 2............................................................................................................................. 20 Article 3............................................................................................................................. 20 Article 4............................................................................................................................. 21 Article 5............................................................................................................................. 24 Article 6............................................................................................................................. 28 Article 7............................................................................................................................. 32 Article 8............................................................................................................................. 34 Article 9............................................................................................................................. 36 Article 10........................................................................................................................... 39 Article 11........................................................................................................................... 41 Article 12........................................................................................................................... 43 2 Report on National Minorities in Albania – 2001 ACFC/SR(2001)005 Article 13........................................................................................................................... 49 Article 14........................................................................................................................... 50 Article 15........................................................................................................................... 51 Article 16........................................................................................................................... 58 Article 17........................................................................................................................... 59 Article 18........................................................................................................................... 61 Article 19........................................................................................................................... 63 Article 20........................................................................................................................... 64 Article 21........................................................................................................................... 64 Article 22........................................................................................................................... 64 Article 23........................................................................................................................... 64 Article 30........................................................................................................................... 64 MOST IMPORTANT PROVISONS OF ALBANIAN LEGISLATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF NATIONAL MINORITIES IN ALBANIA ....... 66 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 106 * * * 3 Report on National Minorities in Albania – 2001 ACFC/SR(2001)005 Introduction The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was signed by the Republic of Albania on 29.06.1995. It was ratified by the Assembly of the Republic of Albania with the Law 8496, dated 03.06.1999 and, after the instruments of ratification were deposited on 28.09.2000, it came into effect on 01.01.2000. This First Report has been drafted in conformity with the instructions of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers and in the context of the states’ reports presented pursuant to Article 25, paragraph 1, of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The first part contains a short geographical, historical and economic description of the country, the fundamental directions of the policy and strategy of the Albanian state, regarding the respect and protection of the rights of the national minorities in Albania, as well as a short historical description of the question of the national minorities living in its territory such as: Greek, Macedonian, Montenegrin and the linguistic minorities of Roma and Aromanians. The second part focuses on the implementation of the provisions of the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe for the Protection of the National Minorities by the Republic of Albania and has been drafted on the basis of the written materials prepared by: the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Local Government Ministry, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), the Albanian Helsinki Committee, and other non-governmental organizations. * * * 4 Report on National Minorities in Albania – 2001 ACFC/SR(2001)005 Part I General Information on Albania Geographical position Albania lies in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. It borders with Montenegro and Kosovo in the North, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the Northeast and Greece in the South. Albania is washed by the Adriatic and Ionian seas in the West and Southwest. Albania has an area of 28.750 square kilometers. The total borderline of it is 1094 km, from which 316 km are coastline, 657 km are land border, 48 km are river border and 73 km of the border passes through lakes. This is a mostly mountain country, with two thirds of the territory covered by mountains and hills, and the rest is with fields. Brief historical view The present Albanian predecessors were the Illyrians. For some consecutive centuries, Albania was under the Roman occupation and, later, the Ottoman one. Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire on November 28, 1912. After World War One, Albania was declared a parliamentary republic, which soon turned into a constitutional kingdom. King Zog ruled the country until 1939, when Albania was invaded by Italian fascists. With the liberation of the country from the Nazi invaders, in November 1944, Albania lived, for nearly 50 years, under a single-party system, in isolation and complete poverty. The democratic changes in Eastern Europe and the mounting opposition and pressure of the people and of the University students in particular, forced the Communist government to allow the creation of independent political parties,