Basic economics is spurring at least a couple thousand people to go Greek.
By Linda Karadaku for Southeast European Times in Tirana -- 27/06/11
 Protesters hold a banner reading "Nationality can not be sold". [Enid Mero] |
The impetus is the promise of benefits afforded those next door. Albanian dailyShekulli has reported that these include a pension of 400 euros per month.
"It is shameful that Albanian citizens are not proud of their nationality and because of financial motives ask to change their nationality. It is unacceptable to have this process finalised because of political-financial bargaining," High Council of Justice Vice-Chairman Kreshnik Spahiu said.
"I know a lot of cases of people who got Greek documents to benefit and these are more the kind of people who have found other ways to take the documents and not by following the roots of their predecessors," Greek Albanian Adela Jani, 28, told SETimes.
Jani is head of Enterprise Systems & Business Intelligence Section, in the Albanian Mobile Communications. Born of a Greek mother and an Albanian father, she has papers from Greece -- permanent permission to stay, live and work in the country -- but did not change her Albanian nationality to Greek. Neither did her father.
They are not alone. A movement is under way led by a group calling itself the Red and Black Alliance that is staunchly opposed to changing nationality.
It has also spearheaded a petition drive aimed at eliminating questions about ethnicity and religion from the national census, which will be conducted in October.
 The Red and Black Alliance is conducting a petition drive aimed at thwarting nationality changes. [Albert Myftaraj] |
The courts are getting involved as well. In Korca, a handful of people are being prosecuted for allegedly changing their nationality from Albanian to Greek and then presenting the papers to the Greek consulate in order to be granted the status of "homogenous".
Spahiu was among the first -- back in February -- to sound the alarm about changes of nationality, saying such a phenomenon should be prevented.
Spahiu points out that most requests come from Albanians in Korca, Gjirokastra and Permet. He said these potentially significant changes of nationality violate the constitution and he blames a misinterpretation of a law passed in 2002, considered lenient in terms of changing nationality.
Weeks ago, he said there were 192 such cases in Korca, 1,600 in Gjirokastra and 469 in Permet. Spahiu vowed that every one of them would be reviewed during the next meeting of the High Council of Justice and pointed out that such changes in nationality could artificially inflate the size of minority communities ahead of the census.
It was the Greek consul in Korca, Theodhoro Ikonomus, who triggered a wave of controversy in February when he called on all people to declare their ethnicity.
"Yes, Greeks exist in Korca. Yes, Vlachs are Greeks. Greeks, don't be afraid of the census, proclaim your real origin," Ikonomus urged in speech later aired by Albanian media.
"If in doubt," he urged them "Go and check the names and the language on the graves of your predecessors."
The Vlachs priest in Korca immediately rejected the statement as irresponsible.
"The consul asked me to declare myself a Greek Vlach to give me visas. I felt persecuted. I told him I am an Albanian Vlach and he refused me visas," Father Dhimiter Veriga told Albanian TV News 24.
The Macedonian minority also reacted. Vasil Sterjovski, chairman of the Macedonian Association, dismissed the comment as "unacceptable and damaging for the communities living in Albania. We consider this an intervention in the internal issues of Albania," Sterjovski told local media.
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