Ilir Kulla, director of the Global Crisis Group, has claimed that Serbia has an interest in encouraging religious divisions among Albanians, arguing that no other country would benefit from such divisions within Albanian society.
Speaking on the program Matrix, hosted by Mehmet Kalisi, Kulla discussed the relationship between religion, national identity and political interests in Kosovo.
Kulla argued that faith and homeland are closely connected, saying that religion should not be viewed separately from questions of national identity and the preservation of the country.
“Without faith, there is no homeland,” he said.
Asked which countries might have an interest in creating religious divisions in Kosovo, Kulla pointed directly to Serbia, claiming that other countries would have no interest in seeing Albanians divided along religious lines.
“Only the Serbs. No one else would be interested in Albanians being divided by religion, because Serbia has had such plans throughout its history,” Kulla said, alleging that Serbia had historically sought to weaken Albanians and pursue policies against them.
Kulla said the issue of religion and political identity had been discussed extensively in the past, linking the conflicts surrounding the former Yugoslavia to the political use of religious identity.
He argued that religious identity had been exploited for political purposes during the conflicts in the region and claimed that such divisions contributed to the destruction of Yugoslavia.
“Only the Serbs wanted a doctrinal religious state, and they were the only ones who managed to turn the conflict in former Yugoslavia into a religious war by using faith for political purposes,” Kulla said.
He argued that the political exploitation of religion contributed to the collapse of Yugoslavia, which he described as one of the most developed states of its time.
Kulla’s comments were made during a broader discussion on the influence of religion on national identity and the need to prevent divisions along religious lines within Kosovo society.
