A report on the Albanian question

In this Prishtina Talks presentation, Rudian Zekthi delivers a polemical, critical report on “the Albanian question” as it has developed in public discourse over the last three months in the Albanian press and in political circles. The lecture is at once analysis, sharp criticism, and a call for a complete reformulation of the way the Albanian nation sees its own national question in relation to Serbia, to Kosovo, and to the political structures of the nation itself.

Zekthi makes a strong claim: “the Albanian question” is not chiefly a problem with Serbia or with outside factors — it is a problem with the Albanian political elites, in Albania as much as in Kosovo, who in his view have systematically sold the national interest and who still today do not challenge Serbian expansionism and Serbian claims. He recalls that the Albanian government of the time did not even formally declare war on Serbia while ethnic cleansing was being carried out against the Albanians of Kosovo, and that a kind of admiration, or approval, of the Serbs still exists in certain official Albanian circles — an anomaly he calls “the only real national problem”.

In the central part, Zekthi examines how that reality is challenged and how it ought to be — why it is the responsibility of the Albanian political elites, of the intellectual class and of the media to manage “the Albanian question within the borders” of the Albanians themselves; why the greatest danger comes not from the known aggressors but from selling out from within; and why fundamental notions such as “the political man” and “national responsibility” need redefining in the present context. He looks closely at the part popular discontent plays, at the possibilities of organising differently, and at why the question of territory matters less than the question of the nation's political awareness.

The lecture closes with an analysis of the situation in Serbian Vranje and what it implies for Kosovo and Albania — a call for a deep re-examination of the way Albanians think of themselves as a nation, and a refusal of the compromises that in Zekthi's view continue to undermine the vital interests of the people.

Some of the points covered: 📌 “The Albanian question” reformulated: the problem is internal, not external 📌 A sharp criticism of the Albanian political elites in Albania and in Kosovo 📌 The role of the Albanian governments during the war in Kosovo 📌 The silent admiration, or approval, of the Serbs in official circles 📌 The responsibility of the political, intellectual and media class 📌 Political awareness as more important than territory 📌 Redefining “the political man” and “national responsibility” 📌 Serbian Vranje, and what it implies for national strategy

📍 Prishtina Talks