The imam of a mosque in the Albanian capital of Tirana has been banned from entering North Macedonia, sparking strong reactions from the Albanian Muslim community.
Ahmed Kalaja is the head of one of the city’s prominent mosques but was refused entry to the neighbouring country, also home to a significant Albanian population while trying to travel to the village of Bojane.
He told the media that every document was in order, and he had an official invitation to visit the country. Kalaja said the border police informed him that his entry was prohibited as he “poses a risk to public order, national security, public health or international relations of the Republic of North Macedonia.”
“I have travelled everywhere in Europe and Britain and no problem. However, the chauvinist policies of the State of North Macedonia towards the Albanians have no basis…Perhaps the Islamic representation institutions in the two states, the ombudsman, the foreign ministry, the state will react,” he wrote on social media.
In a video released later on Monday, he hinted the issue could relate to discrimination against Albanians.
This state is not honest with the Albanians that it will offer them equality. The letter he gave me is in English and Macedonian. The Albanian policemen were upset, I could see it in their faces”, said Kalaja, highlighting that the letter should have also been in Albanian, an official language of North Macedonia.
Kalaja has a prominent presence on YouTube and is known as controversial and a hardliner. He has taken several anti-LGBT stances in recent years, going so far as to create a coalition of religious figures against LGBT individuals to “protect the family”.
In 2022, he declared the alliance would “protect the centuries-old tradition” of the family by opposing same-sex marriages, same-sex parents legally registering their children or same-sex adoption.
In 2015, he called the war in Syria a “holy war” and called on Muslims worldwide to join the fight. A number of Albanians from Albania and Kosovo, including those that attend Kalaja’s mosque, have reportedly travelled to Syria to fight ISIS, with many remaining in camps.
In another incident, an Albanian comedian made fun of the call to prayer during a show. Kalaja shared the clip online and called on his followers to demand an apology.
The comedy club was then flooded with up to 70 threats and abusive messages a day and reported that some followed up in person at the bar and made a video stating, “We Muslims won’t allow our religion to be made fun of.” The matter was reported to the local police.
Albania is a constitutionally secular state with a secularised society. Before World War Two, the country had a Muslim majority and a large Christian majority, but during the communist regime, religion was banned. After communism fell in 1991, religious freedom was allowed again, but a UNDP poll found that 63% of Albanians do not practise a religion, while those who do tend to be lax.
Today, there are Muslim, Bektashi, Orthodox and Christian communities throughout the country, with a small number of Jews in Tirana.
North Macedonia is predominantly an Orthodox Christian country, but it has a population of at least 620,000 Albanians, many of which are Muslim.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
