Albanophobia

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Albanophobia or anti-albanianism is discrimination or prejudice towards Albanians as an ethnic group, described in countries with large Albanian population as immigrants, especially Greece and Italy^[1][2][3] but also in countries with historical Albanian minorities such as the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia^[4]

A similar term used with the same denotation is anti-albanianism^[5] used in many sources similarly with albanophobia, although its similarities and/or differences are not defined.

Its opposite is Albanophilia.

Origins and forms

The term "Albanophobia" was coined by Anna Triandafyllidou on a report analysis called Racism and Cultural Diversity In the Mass Media published in 2002.^[1] Although, the first recorded usage of the term comes from 1982 in The South Slav journal, Volume 8 by Albanian author Arshi Pipa^[6]. The report by Triandafyllidou represented Albanian migrants in Greece^[7] and was followed by other researchers like Karyotis in Greece and Mai in Italy. The hyphenated form "Albano-phobia" is used on some references (including Triandafyllidou), apparently with the same meaning.

Albanian stereotypes that formed amid the creation of an independent Albanian state, and stereotypes that formed as a result of massive immigrations from Albania and Kosovo during the 1980s and 90s, although they may differ from each other, are still both considered Albanophobic and anti-Albanian by many authors such as Triandafyllidou, Banac, Karyotis.

Albanophobia signifies a wider range of concepts that could be roughly grouped in two main categories:

• Albanophobia as xenophobic - referring to stereotypes in countries with a considerable number of Albanian immigrants like Greece, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland and France.
• Albanophobia as nationalistic - referring to stereotypes in countries with active disputes with Albanian ethnicity in the region, most commonly ex-Yugoslav countries (Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro). The second is more likely to be associated with the term anti-albanianism.^{[not in citation given]}

Greece

The stereotype in Greece of Albanians as criminal and degenerate in Greece has been subject of study by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.^[8][9] It is considered that prejudices and mistreatment of Albanians to be still present in Greece.^[8] According to a statement of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, the Albanians are the most likely ethnic group in Greece to be killed by Greek law enforcement officials (28 May 2002, 153).^[8] In addition, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) singles out ethnic Albanians as principle targets of racism. Furthermore, the EUMC found that undocumented Albanian migrants "experience serious discrimination in employment, particularly with respect to the payment of wages and social security contributions".^[8][8][9]

Prejudicial representations of Albanians and Albanian criminality (see Albanian mafia) by the Greek media is largely responsible for the social construction of negative stereotypes, in contrast to the commonly held belief that Greek society is neither xenophobic nor racist.^[10]

During an official military parade in Athens, Greek soldiers chanted "They are Skopians, they are Albanians, we will make new clothes out of their skins".^[11]

Italy

Albanophobia in Italy is primarily related to the Albanian immigrants who are stereotypically seen as criminals, drug dealers.^[12][13] Italian media provide a lot of space and attention to crimes committed by ethnic Albanians, even those just presumed.^[14]

Republic of Macedonia

Anti-Albanian inscription in Macedonian language meaning "Death for Shqiptars"

Ethnic tensions have simmered in the Republic of Macedonia since the end of an armed conflict in 2001, where the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army attacked the security forces of Macedonia with the goal of securing greater rights and autonomy for the ethnic Albanian minority.

In 2009, the Macedonian Academy for Science and Art published their first encyclopedia in which Albanians were referred to as “Shiptars”, which is a derogatory term for Albanians in South Slavic languages, and also as “highlanders” among other things.^[15]

On January 20th of 2012, the fans of the Macedonia national handball team after winning against the Czech republic in the European Championship in Serbia started chanting anti-Albanian slogans to which even the Macedonian handball players joined.^[16] This trend continued during the match against Denmark on the 22nd of January, 2012. ^[17]

On 12 April 2012, five ethnic Macedonian civilians were shot dead allegedly by ethnic Albanian Islamic terrorists in a a terrorist attack known as the Železarsko lake killings. On April 16th of 2012, in the wake of the attack, an anti-Albanian protest was held in Skopje by ethnic Macedonians in which the participants were recorded chanting “a good Shqiptar is a dead Shqiptar” and “gas chambers for Shqiptars”.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Serbia

The origins of anti-Albanian propaganda in Serbia started by the end of 19th century and the reason for this was the claims made by Serbian state on territories that were about to be controlled by Albanians after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.^[22] On the eve of the First Balkan War 1912, Serbian media have implemented a strong anti-Albanian campaign.^[23]

In 1937, the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts, and more specifically the noted Serb scholar and political figure Vaso Čubrilović (1897-1990) wrote a memorandum entitled "The Expulsion of the Albanians" which dealt with the methods that should be used to expel Albanians including: creating a "psychosis" by bribing clergymen to encourage the Albanians to leave the country, enforcing the law to the letter, secretly razing Albanian inhabited villages, ruthless application of all police regulations, ruthless collection of taxes and the payment of all private and public debts, the requisitioning of all public and municipal pasture land, the cancellation of concessions, the withdrawal of permits to exercise an occupation, dismissal from government, the demolition of Albanian cemeteries and many other methods.^[24]

During the end of 1980s and in the beginning of 1990s, in some occasions activities undertaken by Serbian officials in Kosovo have been marked as albanophobic.^[25]

The Serbian media during Milošević's era was known to espouse Serb nationalism while promoting xenophobia toward the other ethnicities in Yugoslavia. Ethnic Albanians were commonly characterized in the media as anti-Yugoslav counter-revolutionaries, rapists, and a threat to the Serb nation.^[26] During the Kosovo War, Serbian forces continually discriminating Kosovo Albanians:

Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and Serbia have harassed, humiliated, and degraded Kosovo Albanian civilians through physical and verbal abuse. Policemen, soldiers, and military officers have persistently subjected Kosovo Albanians to insults, racial slurs, degrading acts, beatings, and other forms of physical mistreatment based on their racial, religious, and political identification.^[27]

— War Crimes Indictment against Milosevic and others

A survey in Serbia showed that 40% of the Serbian population would not like Albanians to live in Serbia while 70% would not enter into a marriage with an Albanian individual.^[28]

See also

• Massacres of Albanians in the Balkan Wars
• Expulsion of Cham Albanians
• Operation Horseshoe
• Discrimination
• Racism
• Xenophobia
• List of anti-ethnic and anti-national terms

References

External links

• Treatment of ethnic Albanians in Greece (UNHCR)
• Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers: Albanians, Albanianism and the strategic subversion of stereotypes
• Italy's Conflicted Responses to Albanian Immigration and Lamerica's Transitive Historical Consciousness
• Italophilia Meets Albanophobia
• USA Today - Anti-racism rally held after deadly soccer game
• Olivera Milosavljević: Stereotipi srpskih intelektualaca XX veka o Albancima (Serbian)
• The Expulsion of the Albanians: Memorandum