Plans for 'Greater Albania' by 2015, South Serbia Leader Says

"We [Albanians from south Serbia] are preparing to realise the idea of a greater Albania to be formed by 2013 or 2015 at the latest," Rexhepi, the vice president of the Presevo assembly, said on Tuesday.

Talks on such a project were held over the weekend in Tirana, where the List for Natural Albania was presented for the first time. Rexhepi attended the meeting along with the mayor of Presevo, Ragmi Mustafa, and the leader of the Movement of Democratic Progress, Jonuz Musliu.

"I was in Tirana over the weekend to support the project and announce that my party [Albanian National Movement] will become part of the List [For Natural Albania] and take part in the next elections in Presevo," Rexhepi said.

The List for Natural Albania includes the groups and individuals who support the idea of a "natural", or "greater" Albania of one state for all ethnic Albanians in the Balkans, which would include parts of the territories of Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, and Serbia.

According to the project, Albanians in these countries would hold a referendum to plead for the establishment of the state.

Presevo valley, a largely ethnic Albanian region in south Serbia, would become part of a "greater Albania" according to the plan, Rexhepi said, explaining that the area has been part of Albanian territories in the past.

Tomo Zoric, spokesperson for the Serbian prosecutor's office, said that his office would check what ethnic Albanian leaders who hold official positions said at the meeting in Tirana.

"If we detect that there were elements of their speeches which violated the law, the prosecutor's office will initiate proceedings," Zoric told Balkan Insight.

In an unofficial referendum held in 1992, a majority of ethnic Albanians in the Presevo Valley expressed their desire to join Kosovo.