Quote:
Originally Posted by Monolith
Some Croats like and respect them because they helped when it was a dark time for my people.
|
When did they help Croatia, I can't recall that. Maybe some individual Albanians (a few of them literally) helped Croatia in the war (I thank them for that), but the great majority of Albanians were indifferent to Croatia's struggle. I remember, when first shootings in Croatia had begun in 1991, most of the Albanians who then lived in Croatia and had their pastry-shops and ice-cream shops (
koljači, bakljave, sljadoljed and similar) fled back to Kosovo. Good riddance because in some small towns on the Adriatic coast, where they were in sufficient numbers, they had even started, at the end of 80ies, to demand schools in Albanian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monolith
My opinion is that they are Europeans, who don't cherish European culture,
|
The situation with them is quite complicated. Part of them are Muslims (the majority). Historically those Muslim Albanians used to identify themselves with the Ottoman Empire. In the Ottoman Empire the "Muslim" was identical with "Turk". So the non-Turkish speaking Muslims also tended to be considered Turks. It was hard to tell a real Turk from an Albanian. Many of them were also bilingual.
On the other hand, you have Catholic Albanians (17%?), a minority living in the north of Albania. They were throughout centuries staunchly anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim, having traditions of clans and tribes, similar to that of Montenegrins (including certain epic poetry describing their skirmishes with Turks and skirmishes between them and mountain tribes that converted to Islam). In modern times they have established a strong national Albanian consciousness, unlike their Muslim conationals who remained true to the Ottoman Empire until its last breath.
The rest are Orthodox Albanians in the south, culturally very similar to the Greeks.
Enver Hoxha's Communist rule had tried to create national feeling, and religion, under the pretext that it divides Albanians, was banned (churches and mosques were closed down, at least only in major cities).
Many of today's Albanians feel a strong attachment to the idea of EU-NATO nowadays.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monolith
Most Albanians who live and work here in Croatia are behaving politely and are working hard.
|
Some of them yes, but there are many who are into heroin business, as well as into the so-called
green mafia (zelena mafija), green referring to vegetables, the sale of which some of the Albanian gangs have monopolized on some markets in Croatia (beating up everyone who doesn't sell at their price, but at lower). But I heard that the latter phenomenon has been fought against successfully in the last few years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monolith
Their number is no threat to my country, unlike to Serbia and Macedonia, because here they usually don't have many children.
|
Obviously, every country has specific problems of her own.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monolith
But these, who live in Kosovo and Macedonia, not to mention Albania, act like well organized mafia. Their natality is high, and they take territories, one by one. Slowly and efficiently.
|
They didn't take those territories through natality, but through foreign help an intervention. NATO did the military part of the job and now it's EU that is subsidizing them