(Newswire.net — May 4, 2017) — Serbian officials on Friday warned that the Balkan region would be pushed into yet another bloodshed, if Tirana gets the green light from NATO to unite all ethnic Albanian-populated territories under one roof.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has threatened that unless his country joins the EU soon, Albania will erase its border line with Kosovo, a controversial US-sponsored state, which was an autonomous province of Serbia until 2008, when it unilaterally proclaimed independence that was right away recognized by major NATO member countries.
Albania is a predominantly Muslim state that is not even a candidate country for joining the European Union as it is decades away from fulfilling the basic EU accession standards.
No one in the Balkans really knows why Albania, one of Europe’s poorest economy, enjoys so much support from Washington. Leaders in the region agree that the open backing of “a Greater Albania” represents the most dangerous move since the end of the latest war conflicts in the Balkans.
Albanian’s aspirations, backed by such a powerhouse, appear to be insatiable. Tirana also claims some regions in southern Serbia, where the ethnic Albanians account for no more than 8% of the local population.
“If I said that all Serbs should live in one state, I would be performing a human flagpole in Brussels,” Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said.
With Washington’s unreserved support, Tirana openly claims Macedonia (officially the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), a part of Greece, a part of Italy, Montenegro and some southern parts of Serbia, based on the presence of Albanian population in these countries.
Montenegro is trying to avoid conflicts by joining NATO, but Albanian officials claim that it wouldn’t change anything. Tirana opposes demarcation between Montenegro and Kosovo, defying the EU demands.
Last week, Macedonia was on the brink of a civil war, when non-Albanians stormed the parliament building enraged at the election of an ethnic Albanian for parliament speaker and the signing of the Albanian national anthem at the assembly. The whole event was broadcasted live on the Macedonian national television.
Although the situation has calmed down, there is a palpable tension in the air, as non-Albanian citizens of Macedonian would never allow the Albanian national flag to fly from the Sobranie (the national assembly).
The United States and NATO’s EU allies, excluding Greece and Italy for obvious reasons, are pressuring Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov to honor the election results and give a mandate to Albanian minority parties and the power-loving non-Albanian parties to form a coalition government.
The EU has also been turning a deaf ear to Tirana’s warmongering, threatening to resolve any dispute by force. The Albanian Army is one of the weakest and poorest military forces on the planet, but with the Pentagon behind them, the Albanians are ready to start a conflict with any country, even with a NATO member.
On the other side, Serbian officials claim that allowing Albania to blackmail the EU and letting Tirana do as it pleases is what is leading right into a war that would not only mean armed conflicts provoked by Albania, but would most certainly reopen old wounds in Bosnia and Herzegovina and tear the county apart between the three entities living there.
Also, the ongoing parliament crisis in Croatia along with loud ultra-right voices demanding the annexation of Croat-populated areas in Bosnia could incite the Bosnian Serbs to unify with Serbia, which would inevitably push the entire region into a new bloodshed.