Lajme flash
A state within a state, or when Edi Rama invents a problem that Albania did not have!
2026-08-20 00:21:33 / IDE
By Eva Idrizllari
Albania did not need a new state. Much less a state created on a religious basis, in the heart of Tirana.
This is the crux of the problem.
Bektashism is one of the treasures of Albanian history. The Bektashis have made an extraordinary contribution to culture, education and the National Renaissance. Precisely for this reason, the attempt to transform this heritage into a state-building project is, in my view, a political and historical mistake.
Because Albania was not built on the principle that religious communities have their own territories. It was built on the opposite idea: one state, one territory, and equal citizens regardless of religious belief.
And this is one of the most precious things we have.
The Albanian Constitution defines the Republic as a unitary state and guarantees freedom of religion. Therefore, the creation of an entity that aims for a separate sovereign status within Tirana raises serious constitutional and political questions. Even the published legal analysis on this initiative has pointed out the tension with the principles of the unitary state, territorial integrity and the secular character of the state.
Who asked for this?
Did Albanian citizens ask for it?
Was there a national debate?
From the published information, the initiative was made public by the Prime Minister and not as a result of any democratic process. A Prime Minister cannot wake up one morning and decide that a religious community will have its own state. States are not created as political marketing projects. Albania is not a map where the Prime Minister can draw enclaves.
The argument that this will be a kind of "Albanian Vatican" does not hold up.
The Vatican is the product of a unique centuries-old history and an agreement between the Holy See and Italy. It cannot be taken simply as a technical model for creating another religious state in a Balkan capital. The historical and legal context of the Vatican is completely different.
If we create a special status for a religious community today, what principle do we establish for tomorrow?
Can another community claim a separate territory?
Could other enclaves be created?
Will Albania still be a secular and unitary state, or will we start dividing the political space according to religious identities?
Albania has a history that we must protect: Muslims, Bektashis, Catholics, Orthodox, and atheists living as citizens of the same state.
This is our wealth.
We do not need to create religious states to prove religious tolerance. On the contrary. The fact that a Bektashi, a Muslim, a Catholic, an Orthodox or an atheist can live in the same state with the same rights is the greatest proof of Albanian tolerance.
Therefore, the project may paradoxically produce the opposite of what it purports to aim for.
Instead of strengthening coexistence, it could institutionalize religion as a territorial and political category. We don't need a new border to prove that we know how to coexist.
The problem is not Baba Mondi. The problem is the political precedent. This must be stated clearly, so that the debate does not devolve into religious conflict.
It is not a problem to honor Bektashism. It is not a problem to protect the heritage of the Patriarchate.
The problem begins when a religious institution receives state treatment and when the Albanian territory begins to be conceived as a space where separate entities can be created on a religious basis.
Criticism of the project is not necessarily criticism of Bektashism.
It is a criticism of the policy of nationalizing religious identity.
Albania does not need another state. It needs a better state.
Let's promote Albania as a place of coexistence. But let's not fragment the concept of the Albanian state to prove that Albanians know how to coexist.
Albania's strength has never been that each religion had its own state.
Our strength has been precisely that no religion has needed its own state.
If today's politics seeks to convince us that religious tolerance must have territory, borders, and sovereignty, then we must ask whether we are truly defending an Albanian tradition, or are we creating a precedent?
Albania needs a functioning state. Not a state within a state.
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