Albanians in Greece: Marriage or Divorce?
“Greek Worker Beware the Bosses Spread Racism” Wall Grafitti in early 2000s
‘We will replace this fascist people with citizens of the world’ #fascistGreeks
Alleged Twittter Statement by Syriza Adviser Karanika
What happened next is that a section of Albanians were adopted co-opted and promoted beyond their real abilities but for the purpose of defeating the Greek working class: in labour and certain individuals were promoted in the sports, the media and in secondary schools to sell the idea they are the same as everyone else.
For that reason alone the labourers who came across in the early 1990’s were essentially unskilled and learnt most of their trades on the job from Greek crews.
This is where the social transformation of the KKE occurred from a party based on labourers with a sprinkling of MPs in Parliament to a party of upwardly mobile petty entrepeneurs. A bourgeoisification took place based on alleged leftwing ideology on ‘anti-racism’ and the building boom that replaced or became a surrogate to the de-industrialisation of Greece as between the mid-1990s and the onset of the Olympic games (we also had the arrival of the ERM and then the Euro) substituted the Greek working class for an imported one whilst at the same time older workers were being fired from industry that was either closing down or relocating to low cost zones (China or Southern Europe eg. Rumania and Bulgaria).
The KKE was never as crass as the leftists who adopted migrants en masse as if they were the saviour of Greece. In the early 1990’s it was the Kurds leaving Iraq who were considered to be ...refugees, whilst Albanians were just seen to be poor neighbours trying to make ends meet, where both Greek and Albanians could benefit. But in reality only Greek bosses benefited by adopting Albanians en masse and the slogan in the beginning of this piece was just Orwellian propaganda. Its purpose was to ensure people accepted Albanians to do otherwise would qualify them as being... racists.
This obviously worked insofar as the economy was in some type of a boom all the way to 2004 (Olympic Games were held) but once new waves of migrants started to come constantly for almost a decade after that led to spiralling crime, chaos on the streets and a general turn by the Greek population against migration in general.
Its a general rule well known for any observers of any society that the first wave of migrants are generally acquiescent as they aren’t really established in anything. The beauty of Greece’s free movement with Albania was that the Albanians were never regulated for over a decade and as such they could be booted out willy nilly but never were and they became pariahs in general as described by Engels in the 19th century classic ‘The Condition of the English Working Class’. They could be used as whipping boys against Greek workers who were truculent or who demanded higher wages. This was superbly manipulated by the KKE in its war against Greek workers. They sidelined Greek militant building workers and slowly replaced them with Albanians. Having achieved their aim what did they gain? A stabilisation of capitalism until the Big Crash.
The evidence of the uselessness of migrant workers is clear for all to see. Almost three decades after their arrival en masse no significant victory has ever been achieved anywhere and never will be. Even during the Olympics building boom, hours weren’t reduced, danger levels weren’t decreased nor were new standards set. Instead the Greek working class as evidenced by the slogans sang in football stadiums, conversations on the radio, conflicts that hit the streets due to provocative attitudes of the Albanians in particular after the NATO bombardment of Serbia in 1999 led to a chant which stated: ‘Albanians You will Never be Greek’.
The above slogan was dominated and overshadowed all conversations which tried to sell the fact that whoever resides in Greece or is born in Greece suddenly is Greek. Assimilationists sold diversity and Greekness at one and the same time. In other words one could be a Nigerian like Antetonkoumpo and declare one is Greek as well. An approach which essentially states that all you require is to cross artificially constructed nation state borders and once in you become one with the locals. Language, history, culture, tradition play no role. The ethnic ghetto was now king and the response from the masses was clear: ‘Albanian you will never be Greek’ which contiues to this day when the same slogan was chanted against citizens of ex-FYROM with the slogan ‘Skopjian you will never be Greek’
Around 70% of Albanians in the 2000 decade were involved in the building trade and another 20% in the agricultural sector. This was the era when the EU compressed prices on farms and the subsidies did not allow a) for workers to be employed legally b) supermarkets imported from outside the EU compressing prices c) land in general was considered an enemy to progress and an office job the solution to all. An overwhelming majority of Greek students ended up studying abroad if not studying at home and a return to the land was considered an anathema as were labouring trades. Thus mass migration led to a breakdown of certain trades ie. only older Greek workers were involved in building trades or they became foremen or small businessmen employing contract labour and then having been removed cut off from the trades. Within this situation it was inevitable Albanians ended up becoming building specialists and then branching out themselves. Subsequently when the crash came Albanians started either to leave and go abroad or also branch out in the food sector setting up cafes or souvlaki joints. Hardly any went back home for work but they did send money home to build any houses on land they owned or houses. Billions of euros left Greece and were never re-invested in the country itself.
An Albanian Ms Alimani teacher who migrated to Greece explained the situation thus:
“No one knew what migration meant. Migration is a very violent event. Many felt humiliation. No one at the time stopped to think that Greece wasn’t ready for such a wave of migration. In Albania I only ever held books, I studied theatre whilst in Greece I did all the jobs. Degradation I never allowed myself to feel. I just took a decision that we belong to an unlucky generation – my daughter I am sure will live better. The question is how do you go to the other country, with an open heart or with reservations?”
https://www.tovima.gr/2008/11/24/archive/giati-toys-misoyme-ellines-albanoi-giati-mas-misoyn/
It becomes clear with the above that migrants expect a host country to bend over backwards to accept them for what they are which then begs the question why are they there? Is there a lack of domestic labour or an inability of it to perform? Its only due to currency differences and standard of living differentials that the process occurs in other words free flow of surplus labour goes essentially one way, from low cost zones to high cost zones when dealing with labour. In what way does ‘free movement’ help anyone other than the bosses? To date no one ever answers that question only because by hiding behind emotional accusations of racism they cover for the bosses desire to drive down wages and pen them to the floor.
“In Athens they are seven Albanian unions of migrants with the main one being the Forum of Albanian Migrants. Nowadays they don’t send all their money home, they have money in banks, they buy houses, in Athens there are around 50k Albanians who own property, mostly in Kipseli, Platia Vathi and Attiki squares, where they can find cheap flats close to their own people.
….Greeks continue to have a fear of Albanians as renters primarily as they believe they aren’t economically solvent”
In 2008 according to a report around 40% of Albanians didn’t have secondary education, around 11% declares they don’t know how to write and only 4% are graduates of high schools. Around 50% of primary schoolchildren are no longer Greek and around 25% in lower secondary.”
https://www.tovima.gr/2008/11/24/archive/giati-toys-misoyme-ellines-albanoi-giati-mas-misoyn/
Assimilation or Separation?
Before the EU’s much vaunted ‘free movement’ we had ... free movement!
The generation of Albanian children born in Greece have ended up joining the Greek army for national service have been photographed doing the eagle sign (2017) which is the marker for ‘Greater’ Albania. Such is the level of incompetency of the banana republic of NATO going by the name of Greece that anything goes. All they will need in the future is others doing images of their countries flags.
http://web.archive.org/web20170123043331/http://www.protothema.gr/greece/article/647581/salos-me-tous-7-neosullektous-pou-shimatisan-ton-alvaniko-aeto-mesa-se-stratopedo/
2nd Generation Albanians joining the Greek army doing signs of 'Greater' Albania
If as the theory goes Albanian children who grew up in Greece are now Greek why would any of them do the signs of their parents country? To what extent can minorities ever fully integrate in capitalist nation states? No one ever asks or is allowed to debate it as its tantamount to becoming a pariah (due to racism) for questioning the pariah status of migrant arrivals.
According to official government figures there are 480k Albanians in Greece around 53% of the total number of migrants. This occurred in the national census where we have 911.000 migrants with Bulgarians being 8% of the overall total, Rumanians 5%, Pakistanis 3.7% Georgians around 3%
https://www.triklopodia.gr/alvanika-mme-posi-alvani-zoun-stin-ellada/
How many Albanians have actually married Greeks or are in relationships with them? Few and far between. Despite the much vaunted ‘multiculturalism’ there is enmity against both nations by their respective citizens. In a news outlet they refer to a story by two young people that meet one a Greek girl and one an Albanian man and both families nip the relationship in the bud
https://www.newsbeast.gr/weekend/arthro/3422885/mporei-mia-elliniki-oikogeneia-na-apodechthei-enan-alvano-gampro-kai-mia-alvaniki-mia-ellinida-nyfi
In an article in Kathimerini they were praising foreign marriages as if it brings about new blood and gives re-birth to a nation. This was written in 2009. A decade later hundreds of thousands of citizens left Greece. So how did these alleged foreign marriages forestall this? Probably the opposite occurred. The more ‘foreign marriages’ the more fragmentation occurs and national resistance becomes weaker.
But that wont be written anywhere as it leads to social ostracism.
http://www.kathimerini.gr/368068/article/politismos/arxeio-politismoy/otan-o-8anos-gnwrise-th-loyntmila
In a previous article in the main globalist daily paper Ta Nea it stated: “ that in the last years we can notice an increase in the rise of mixed marriages amongst Greek men and Albanian women in general – the opposite is rare. “Few marriages stabilise” according to Ms Malliou “usually they break down due to everyone in their environment being opposed to the Albanian bride -very rarely does a Greek woman marry an Albanian, whilst many times Albanian women are more educated than their partners. In these instances the biggest victims are the children who cannot work out what their identity is. There is another category of Albanians who try to hide their tru identity aided by their parents. Does one know how many children have psychological problems and they hide it?”
https://www.tovima.gr/2008/11/24/archive/giati-toys-misoyme-ellines-albanoi-giati-mas-misoyn/
So what is the conclusion? The Greek bourgeois nation state was only created fully in in its present borders in 1948. Fifty years later hundreds of thousands of Albanians arrived which questioned its essence as a monoethnic nation state. Generations of grandparents know and lived through the role of Albania during WW2. Enmity existed, by both parties. The difference being that Albanians arrival led to the undercutting of Greek workers wages and due to the criminal role of the Left they were adopted and integrated. Assimilation never occurred and every now and again demands are made for their expulsion and there have been instances when Albanians have been forced to hand over criminals in their midst in village areas where crime has spiralled out of control.
The creation of a ‘Greater’ Albania will create the issue anew. Do they stay in Greece or go home and build the vision of the country they allege is lacking since WW1? Should the Left aid them in revolutionary repatriation as Marx envisioned during his tenure of the First International? Is there a Left interested in the indigenous Greek working class anymore? Or has globalism irrevocably won?
Central Athens: What Greeks were missing and required them to become cosmopolitan