A question to the European Commission on “Albania’s plans to establish a sovereign, Muslim religious state in Tirana, which was announced on Sunday 22.09.2024 from the podium of the UN General Assembly by the country’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama“, was submitted by the MEP of the New Democracy and the EPP, Fredi Beleris.

Beleris, who is also a member of the EP Delegation to the EU-Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, underlines that, according to what is known so far, “the autonomous and independent state will be called the “Sovereign State of the Order of the Bektachtsis” and that “it will have its diplomatic documents, borders, but also a separate administrative structure”. In addition, he notes, “only Shiite Muslims, members of the Sufi religious community, will be naturalized in the new state (within the Albanian state).”

For these reasons, the ND MEP asks the European Commission what its position is “on this potential new state and whether its creation violates the agreed upon accession path for Albania” and, if it does, “what additional criteria can be set”. It also asks whether “the creation of such a state, which would not hold elections, is in line with the Copenhagen political criteria that each country must meet for the functioning of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities” and what “diplomatic steps” the European Commission intends to take “to ensure the peaceful coexistence of all religious communities in Albania”.