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"We are going to realise the project of Albanian national unity through the EU"

Sali Berisha promises a de facto Greater Albania in the framework of the process of European integration during the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Albanian Independence · Hashim Thaci says Kosovo will be the guarantor of the rights of Albanians in Macedonia and Serbia · Belgrade proposes to reopen the Kosovar question through "a new Dayton"

Is the project of Greater Albania closer to be met 100 years after the independence of the first modern Albanian state?? It seems that Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha (left picture; image by World Economic Forum), thinks so: "We are going to realise the project of Albanian national unity through the EU", he said during a celebration in the Macedonian capital city Skopje. AFP quotes Berisha as speaking in front of 10,000 ethnic Albanians, who were chanting "Greater Albania", as part of celebrations held to mark the centenary of the Albanian state.

This is not only happening in Skopje, a city where 20% of the population was ethnic Albanian in 2002 (the year the last census was done). Kosovo capital city Pristina is these days dressed in red and black (the national colors of Albania), as reported by journalists from the city, for example in this article by Le Courrier the Balkans or in this one.

Officially, Kosovo is banned from seeking unification with any other country (as explicitly written in the country's Constitution). In practice, however, Pristina and Tirana hold a number of joint ventures as they try to blurr the border between Kosovo and Albania, thanks to the European integration process.

At the same event where Berisha was talking about Albanian national unity, Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci promised that Kosovo would "protect" Albanians in Serbia and Macedonia.

Serbian PM proposes a new Dayton

Meanwhile, Belgrade is still thinking about possible solutions to the conflict in Kosovo. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic thinks about "a new Dayton", in a similar way to negotiations that put an end to the Bosnian war. Serbian PM has not elaborated, but local media understand the proposal as an attempt to redefine the status of Kosovo through a conference where Serbia, Kosovo and international powers take part in. In that regard, Dacic has referred to Bosnian territorial make-up resulting from Dayton, and has praised two facts: first, that there exists in Bosnia an entity with an ethnic Serbian majority (the Republika Srpska), and second, that no changes can be made into the structure of the Bosnian state without Serbian consent. Is this what Dacic would like for Serbs in Kosovo? He has not mentioned.

In any case, the government in Pristina has rejected the idea. Kosovar leaders consider that any talks on Kosovo must be held in bilateral meetings between Serbian and Kosovar governments, and under the mediation of the EU. Pristina understands that this scenario is more favorable to Kosovo: most EU countries -including those most influential- recognize its independence and territorial integrity.