An interesting facet of Balkan society, and one that I feel has been largely overlooked in our research on Albania, is the large percentage of Muslims in the region; Islam has a long history in the Balkan states. In Albania, demographic polls and studies have indicated the percentage of Muslims in Albania ranges anywhere from 43-79.9%.
https://worldview.gallup.com/default.aspx
The differing religious identities of the myriad Balkan states surely has affected - alongside severe ethnic tensions - the composition and history of the region, and I feel that understanding this is key to understanding relations amongst the Balkan states and their ties to Western Europe. While Sunni Muslims are prominent in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo (once part of largely-Christian Serbia), Christian majorities exist in Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
In the news as of late is the propagation of radical Islam - with ties to al Qaeda and other groups - in the majority-Muslim Balkan states. An interesting news article explaining this phenomena "largely overlooked by the West" can be found here: http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/radical-islam-surging-in-balkans/?cat_orig=faith
I don't think this was largely overlooked, but it is true that we didn't bring it up in our discussions. Public enemy number one for Albanians (imagine more eloquent words) is Serbia because of the history of the religious genocides in the Balkans.
ReplyDeleteNegotiations for the northern part of Kosovo are so critical because the entire area of ex Yugoslavia and the Balkans have such fragile relations still.
Interesting to see the possible ties to Al-Quaeda though... this is news to me, but not entirely surprising because there is still such a great tension lingering in the Balkans and it certainly doesn't seem like it's all over just yet.
This is really interesting and I think it is something that IS overlooked in the West even though we should be very aware of the ties to Al-Quaeda and their movements. The growth of radical Islam should stay on the top of agendas across the middle East, Europe, and the Western world especially if "analysts agree that the growing influence of radical Islam could threaten stability of southeast Europe in 2013." This instability would have a large rippling effect.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting that, "this rise is in large measure attributed to economic stagnation and high youth unemployment." This is no easy thing to fix and will need much attention to make sure the effects of this do not get out of hand and do in fact cause instability.