Ilirida ( sq, Ilirida; mk, Илирида, ''Ilirida'') or the Republic of Ilirida ( sq, Republika e Iliridës; mk, Република Илирида, ''Republika Ilirida'') is a proposed state in the western regions of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

(then Republic of Macedonia), declared twice by the politician

Nevzat Halili Nevzat Halili (born September 15, 1946), is a Macedonian politician and teacher of English. Halili was first elected to the Macedonian parliament in 1991 and is a member of the Party for Democratic Prosperity. In an open letter to president Kiro ...

, once in 1992 and again in 2014. The proposal has been declared unconstitutional by the Macedonian government. The secessionist concept of Ilirida emerged in the early 1990s and was advocated by some Albanian politicians as a solution to concerns and disputes the Albanian community had regarding constitutional recognition and minority rights within Macedonia.

Etymology

The name ''Ilirida'' is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsIllyri(a) and Da(rdania), which are the names of ancient regions that covered parts of modern-day North Macedonia. "“Republic of Illirida”, a name formed by the conjunction of Illyria and Dardania"

History

Declaration of Republic (1992)

Makedonija - Etnicki sastav po naseljima 2002

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the position of

ethnic Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbi ...

was uncertain in the early years of the new Macedonian republic. Various Albanian political parties emerged, of which the

Party for Democratic Prosperity The Party for Democratic Prosperity or PDP ( al, Partia për prosperitet demokratik, PPD; mk, Партија за демократски просперитет, ПДП) is an ethnic Albanian political party in North Macedonia. The party was fo ...

(PDP) was the largest and most prominent. The PDP called for the improvement of the status of Albanians in Macedonia, such as extended education rights and Albanian language usage, constitutional changes, release of political prisoners, proportional voting system and an end to discrimination. Discontent with the lack of constitutional recognition of collective rights for Albanians resulted in PDP leader Nevzat Halili declaring his party would regard the constitution as invalid and move toward seeking autonomy. Later, a referendum on the status of the Albanians in Macedonia, declared illegal by the Macedonian government, was held in January 1992. 74% out of 92% of those eligible to vote, voted for the autonomy of the Albanians. On March 31, 1992, about 40,000 ethnic Albanians demonstrated in the streets of Skopje, asking that Macedonia remain an unrecognized state until areas with an Albanian majority were autonomous. On April 6, 1992, the Republic of Ilirida was proclaimed in Struga by Albanian activists, in front of a crowd of 2,500 people. The main organizer being the PDP leader, Nevzat Halili. The ballot referendum to declare territorial autonomy of the Albanians in Ilirida (Fyrom,Macedonia) year 1992

The ballot referendum to declare territorial autonomy of the Albanians in Ilirida (Fyrom,Macedonia) year 1992

The proposed republic would have covered approximately half of Macedonia's territory, mainly where Albanians form large concentrations and majorities in the west and northwest of the country. It intended to unite all Albanians living in Yugoslavia. Later on, the aim of the republic was that of favoring the federalization of Macedonia. On November 6, 1992, Macedonian police used force to disperse ethnic Albanians who were protesting for the release of a cigarette smuggler. Clashes with police resulted in the deaths of 4 Albanians and 36 injured. The police seized 2,000 leaflets signed by the Ilirida Albanian youth movement, which urged the Albanians of Macedonia to wage war for their rights of self-determination. Macedonian leadership opposed the demands as they viewed them a "

Trojan horse The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...

" that could lead to secession and become part of campaign geared toward creating Greater Albania by uniting to Albania other areas in the Balkans.

Paramilitary Case (1993–1995)

During the period of gaining independence and prior to the

Yugoslav army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

leaving the country, Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov had told ethnic Macedonian and Albanian citizens to create paramilitary forces. The peaceful exit of the Yugoslav army ended official encouragement for the formation of paramilitary forces. At the time, arms had been stockpiled for "communal self-defence". Both of these events would later lead to the discovery of the what became known as the "weapons plot", "arms plot" or "arms scandal" (November 1993) that involved several PDP officials, such as the Deputy Minister of Defence, implicated in what Macedonian media called an "Albanian paramilitary organization". Macedonian authorities arrested a group of PDP politicians, according to government officials the accused were in possession of 300 machine guns and planned an armed uprising of 20,000 Albanians to create the Republic of Ilirida. An attempt to conciliate Albanian politicians, Gligorov stated that no links existed between the accused and PDP leaders, whereas Albanian leadership called for unity and loyalty to the state. The death in custody of one of the accused heightened tensions. According to governmental sources, there was coordination between the Macedonian Albanian activists, some Kosovo Albanians, and the Republic of Albania. The government of Albania denied those accusations, and so did

Ibrahim Rugova Ibrahim Rugova (; 2 December 1944 – 21 January 2006) was a prominent Kosovo Albanian political leader, scholar, and writer, who served as the President of the partially recognised Republic of Kosova, serving from 1992 to 2000 and as President ...

, then president of the Republic of Kosova. Albania alleged the plot and previous calls for an Ilirida were a fabrication by

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...

. The PDP gave an initial muted reply to events. They stated that weapons were smuggled due to feelings of insecurity held by citizens during the departure of the Yugoslav army, sentiments that had gone with the establishment of a Macedonian army. In 1993 Halili was tried for “paramilitary” secessionism, but was not jailed. Halili then disappeared from the political scene. During their trial, the other accused PDP members claimed that they acted in self-defence at a time when the Macedonian army had not been formed. The indictment stated that the accused aimed to overthrow the state through a sophisticated paramilitary and communications network based in towns in the north and west of the country. The accused were tried under law from the former Yugoslav period. Initially members in the Macedonian government had told the accused PDP politicians that they would get short sentences ranging to a maximum of 18 months. Later the court in Skopje gave sentences spanning 5 to 8 years to 10 PDP politicians: Abdylselem Arsallani, Mitat Emini, Hasan Agushi, Aqif Demiri, Burim Murtezani, Resmi Ejupi, Hysen Haskaj, Selam Elmazi, Eugen Cami and Shinasi Rexhepi. The

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

(OSCE) mission to Macedonia noted multiple irregularities with trial proceedings and violations of the defendants rights. During January 1995, two years were removed from the sentences of all 10 men by an appeals court. On 1 August 1995, the men were all released, with 8 only serving a third of their prison time. Both Emini and Agushi received amnesties. Several sources among western militaries placed responsibility for instigating the weapons scandal on

Richard Tomlinson Richard John Charles Tomlinson (born 13 January 1963) is a former officer of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). He argued that he was subjected to unfair dismissal from MI6 in 1995, and attempted to take his former employer to a ...

, a British Secret Intelligence Service (

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

) operative with links to the PDP leadership in playing an important role, along with British and French Intelligence.

Late 20th and early 21st centuries

The nationalist faction of the PDP had confronted Halili in September 1993 at the party congress and the leadership was accused of failing "obtain either autonomy or the status of a people of the state". By 1994, the party split and the nationalist faction became the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) led by Arben Xhaferi and Menduh Thaçi, whereas a rump PDP was led by Abdurman Haliti. Muhamed Halili, former coordinator of the now split

(PDP), declared to a Bulgarian newspaper in 1994 that the party still wanted to achieve autonomy, and that Albanians' autonomy in Macedonia was the "first stage of the two-nation state". The other Albanian leaders kept silent about the issue, but in June 1994 the Albanian National Party (NPD) resolved that "Ilirida autonomy is the minimum which the Albanians of Macedonia should realize", and Abdurahman Haliti, president of the PDP, warned that "those who think that the autonomy option for the Albanians of Macedonia doesn't exist, are wrong". During the period of the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

(1990s), the international community was resolute in maintaining territorial integrity in the region and it resulted in the softening of demands by Albanian politicians and later of the National Liberation Army (NLA) in the 2001 conflict. A body called Working Group on Ethnic and National Communities and Minorities (1991-1996) was established to deal with the Yugoslav breakup. The working group was successful in mediating a selection of minority demands and it persuaded Albanians not to pursue autonomy in Macedonia after 1992. By mid decade, Albanian political leadership had changed positions from initially seeking autonomy in Macedonia to one of "internal self-determination" for the Albanian minority that denoted cultural autonomy instead of territorial aims. By 1999 the Albanian Paramilitary of the Republic of Ilirida had been created, and were deemed illegal by the government of Skopje. They were however tolerated. By 2001, sentiments for territorial changes were minimal among Albanians in Macedonia during the conflict between the NLA and Macedonian Army. In a nationwide poll commissioned by the US State Department's Office of Research in April/May 2001, a majority (69%) of Albanians sympathised with NLA demands, however most (87%) supported the unity of the country with 71% stating a preference to living in a multiethnic Macedonia as opposed to a

Greater Albania Greater Albania is an irredentist and nationalist concept that seeks to unify the lands that many Albanians consider to form their national homeland. It is based on claims on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in th ...

. In 2002 the Army of the Republic of Ilirida was created. The goal of the army was to incorporate Western Macedonia into Albania or into Kosovo. Allegedly composed of 200 members, it was rumored that the army members took an oath to Leka Zogu, claimant of the title of Crown Prince of Albania. However, Leka Zogu denied those claims. Although the idea of the Republic of Ilirida seemed to have been abandoned by its proponents, on September 18, 2014 a few dozen Albanians assembled in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

to again declare the creation of the Republic of Ilirida. According to Nevzat Halili, the self-proclaimed president, the right of

Albanians in Macedonia The Albanians in North Macedonia ( sq, Shqiptarët në Maqedoninë e Veriut, mk, Албанци во Северна Македонија) are the second largest ethnic group in North Macedonia, forming 446,245 individuals or 24.3% of the reside ...

to self-determination and the proclamation of Ilirida as an autonomous region is based on the United States Constitution. Halili threatened to organize a referendum if his plans were ignored by the government. The concept of Ilirida has, at some point, been described as a part of the

irredentist Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent st ...

n concept. It is also often used, in the context of Greater Albania, by nationalists in circles of Macedonian and Serbian politics as a scare tactic in bids to rally support.

Notes

References

{{Ethnic nationalism 1992 disestablishments in Europe States and territories established in 1992 States and territories established in 2014 Separatism in North Macedonia Albanian separatism Proposed countries