Key findings: The problems of the Greek minority in Albania continue to affect the wider relationship between Albania and Greece. -- Efforts to improve the situation and human rights of the minority have met with delays and difficulties as both past and present Albanian and Greek governments have been willing to use nationalism as political capital for electoral benefits. -- External manipulation of the minorities' issues by nationalist-based groups has hindered efforts to correctly evaluate the minority situation and contributed to interethnic tensions. -- The election of a new government in Greece may offer an opportunity to attempt to solve some of these problems and improve regional relationships

This open access book collects ten essays that look at intra-regional migration in the Southern Balkans from the late Ottoman period to the present. It examines forced as well as voluntary migrations and places these movements within their historical context, including ethnic cleansing, population exchanges, and demographic engineering in the service of nation-building as well as more recent labor migration due to globalization. Inside, readers will find the work of international experts that cuts across national and disciplinary lines. This cross-cultural, comparative approach fully captures the complexity of this highly fractured, yet interconnected, region. Coverage explores the role of population exchanges in the process of nation-building and irredentist policies in interwar Bulgaria, the story of Thracian refugees and their organizations in Bulgaria, the changing waves of migration from the Balkans to Turkey, Albanian immigrants in Greece, and the diminished importance of ethnic migration after the 1990s. In addition, the collection looks at such under-researched aspects of migration as memory, gender, and religion. The field of migration studies in the Southern Balkans is still fragmented along national and disciplinary lines. Moreover, the study of forced and voluntary migrations is often separate with few interconnections. The essays collected in this book bring these different traditions together. This complete portrait will help readers gain deep insight and better understanding into the diverse migration flows and intercultural exchanges that have occurred in the Southern Balkans in the last two centuries.

Situated between Greece on the south, the former Yugoslavia on the north and east, and the Adriatic Sea on the west, Albania is the country the world forgot. Throughout this century, Albania has been perceived as primitive and isolationist by its neighbors to the west. When the country ended fifty years of communist rule in 1992, few outsiders took interest. Deemed unworthy of membership in the European Union and overlooked by multinational corporations, Albania stands today as one of the poorest and most ignored countries in Europe. Miranda Vickers and James Pettifer take us behind the veil of former President Enver Hoxha's isolationist policies to examine the historic events leading up to Albania's transition to a parliamentary government. Beginning with Hoxha's death in 1985, Albania traces the last decade of Albania's shaky existence, from the anarchy and chaos of the early nineties to the victory of the Democratic Alliance in 1992 and the programs of the current government. The authors provide us with an analysis of how the moral, religious, economic, political and cultural identity of the Albanian people is being redefined, and leave no question that the future of Albania is inextricably linked to the future of the Balkans as a whole. In short, they tell us why Albania matters.

When in 1821, the Greeks rose in violent revolution against the rule of the Ottoman Turks, waves of sympathy spread across Western Europe and the United States. More than a thousand volunteers set out to fight for the cause. The Philhellenes, whether they set out to recreate the Athens of Pericles, start a new crusade, or make money out of a war, all felt that Greece had unique claim on the sympathy of the world. As Byron wrote, 'I dreamed that Greece might Still be Free'; and he died at Missolonghi trying to translate that dream into reality. William St Clair's meticulously researched and highly readable account of their aspirations and experiences was hailed as definitive when it was first published. Long out of print, it remains the standard account of the Philhellenic movement and essential reading for any students of the Greek War of Independence, Byron, and European Romanticism. Its relevance to more modern ethnic and religious conflicts is becoming increasingly appreciated by scholars worldwide. This new and revised edition includes a new Introduction by Roderick Beaton, an updated Bibliography and many new illustrations.

Bilingualism and Multiculturalism in Greek Education investigates the factors affecting language maintenance/shift among second-generation Albanian and Egyptian migrant pupils in Athens. Using a combined quantitative and qualitative methodology, it explores the influence of three sets of variables on language maintenance. These are a) ethnolinguistic vitality, defined by the demography, status and institutional support of each group in Greece, as well as migrant and Greek pupils’ perceptions regarding these factors; b) migrant parents’ attitudes to language maintenance and their role in language transmission in the home; and c) the attitudes of teachers and the institutional approaches of mainstream Greek education to linguistic and cultural diversity. Results indicate that: • knowledge of Greek is common among today’s children of Albanian and Egyptian immigrants and preference for that language is dominant; • bilingualism varies slightly between Albanian and Egyptian second-generation pupils with Egyptians being more dominant in the parental language, due to their higher degree of identification with their ethnic group in comparison to the Albanian pupils; • the school context plays a significant role in the ability of second-generation youths to achieve and maintain bilingual fluency.

This open access book draws on award-winning cross-generational research comparing the complex and life-changing processes of settlement among Albanian migrants and their adolescent children in three European cities: London (UK), Thessaloniki (Greece), and Florence (Italy). Building on key concepts from the social sciences and migration studies, such as identity, integration and transnationalism, the author links these with emerging theoretical notions, such as mobility, translocality and cosmopolitanism. Ethnic identities, transnational ties and integration pathways of the youngsters and adults are compared, focusing on intergenerational transmission in particular and recognizing mobility as an inherent characteristic of contemporary lives. Departing from the traditional focus on the adult children of settled migrants and the main immigration countries of continental North-Western Europe, this study centres on Southern Europe and Great Britain and a very recently settled immigrant group. The result is an illuminating early look at a second generation “in-the-making”. Indeed, the findings provide ample grounds for pragmatic and forward-looking policy to enable these migrant-origin youngsters, and others like them, to more fully attain their potential. The book ends with a call to reassess the term “second generation” as it is currently used in policy and scholarly works. Children of migrants seldom see themselves as a particular and homogeneous group with ethnicity as an intrinsic identifying quality. More importantly, they make use of all the limited resources at their disposal, and view their integration processes through broader geographies – showing sometimes a cosmopolitan orientation, but also using localized reference points, such as the school, city, or urban neighbourhood.

The Turkish minority in Western Thrace has inhabited the region for centuries. However, despite a raft of protections in domestic and international law, they remain unrecognized by the Greek government. [This report] highlights the barriers still confronting the community today. This situation has resulted in a wide range of restrictions on their ability to establish associations, practice their culture and provide education in the Turkish language, representing a serious threat to their identity, participation and self-expression. The Turkish minority also faces a number of obstructions of their religious freedoms, including state interference in the appointment of their spiritual leaders. The rights of the Turkish minority continue to be determined by a framework established almost a century ago, despite Greece’s accession to a host of international human rights treaties and its obligations as a member of the European Union. In this context, Greek authorities must take immediate steps to recognize the Turkish minority in Western Thrace and remove all barriers to the full enjoyment of their rights.

Fear.