Declaration of Republic (1992) Following the
breakup of Yugoslavia, the position of
ethnic Albanians was uncertain in the early years of the new Macedonian republic. 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, 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. Later on, the aim of the activists 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.
Paramilitary Case (1993–1995) During the period of gaining independence and prior to the
Yugoslav army leaving the country, Macedonian President
Kiro Gligorov had told ethnic Macedonian and Albanian citizens to create paramilitary forces. According to governmental sources, there was coordination between the Macedonian Albanian activists, some Kosovo Albanians, and the Republic of Albania. Albania alleged the plot and previous calls for an Ilirida were a fabrication by
FR Yugoslavia. In 1993 Halili was tried for “paramilitary” secessionism, but was not jailed. Halili then disappeared from the political scene. 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. Several sources among western militaries placed responsibility for instigating the weapons scandal on
Richard Tomlinson, a British Secret Intelligence Service (
MI6) 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". Muhamed Halili, former coordinator of the now split
Party for Democratic Prosperity (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". By 2001, sentiments for territorial changes were minimal among Albanians in Macedonia during the
conflict between the NLA and Macedonian Army. In 2002, a paramilitary group called the Army of the Republic of Ilirida was created. The goal of the group was to incorporate Western Macedonia into Albania or into Kosovo. Allegedly composed of 200 members, it was rumored that members of the group 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 to again declare the creation of the Republic of Ilirida. According to Nevzat Halili, the self-proclaimed president, the right of
Albanians in Macedonia 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. Nationalists in circles of Macedonian and Serbian politics apply the concept of Greater Albania as a scare tactic in bids to rally support. ==See also==