Albanians Push For Kosovo In Islamic Conference

Albania’s Muslim community has started a petition drive to appeal to all 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, OIC, to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

Only 9 out off 57 IOC member states have recognized Kosovo as a sovereign state. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17 last year, and has been recognised by 54 countries, including the United States and most European Union member states.

The organizers of the petition are seeking 100,000 signatures from Albanian citizens in order to draw the OIC’s attention after what they call a “failure of diplomatic efforts.”

Most of the ethnic Albanian majority of Kosovo are secular Muslims, and the government in Pristina had hoped for a block recognition from all OIC states.

Albania became a member of the OIC in 1994, but its membership has always been a contreversial topic in the country, which mainly looks toward the EU and NATO. Despite the country being accepted as a member in the Conference, the Albanian parliament never ratified the agreement to become a part of the IOC.