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The Republic of Ilirida (Albanian: Republika e Iliridës) is a proposed state declared twice by politician Nevzat Halili, once in 1992 and once in 2014. The idea has been declared unconstitutional by the Macedonian government. The secessionist concept of Ilirida emerged in the early 1990s and was advocated by some Albanian politicians as a solution to concerns and disputes the Albanian community had regarding constitutional recognition and minority rights within Macedonia.
History
A referendum on the status of the Albanians in Macedonia, declared illegal by the Macedonian government, was held in January 1992. 74% out of 92% of those eligible to vote, voted for the autonomy of the Albanians. On March 31, 1992, about 40,000 ethnic Albanians demonstrated on the streets of Skopje, asking that Macedonia be recognized as a country lest the rights of ethnic Albanians were recognized.
6 days later, on April 6, 1992, the Republic of Ilirida, was proclaimed by Albanian Macedonian activists in Struga, Republic of Macedonia, the main organizer being former PDP member, Nevzat Halili, in front of a crowd of 2,500 people.
The proposed republic would have covered approximately half of Macedonia's territory, mainly where Albanians form large concentrations and/ or majorities in the west and northwest. It intended to unite all Albanians living under the former Yugoslavia. Later on, the aim of the republic 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 Macedonian police seized 2,000 leaflets signed by the Ilirida Albanian youth movement, which called for the Albanians of Macedonian to wage war for their rights to self-determination.
At that time a group of Albanian activists were accused by Skopje that they were in possession of 300 machine guns and ready to organize an uprising of 20,000 Albanians to achieve the goal of the creation of the Republic of Ilirida. According to the official sources of the Macedonian government, there was coordination between the Macedonian Albanian activists, and the Kosovo Albanians, as well as by Albania. The government of Albania denied these accusations, and so did Ibrahim Rugova, then president of the Republic of Kosova. In 1993 Halili was tried for “paramilitary” secessionism, but was not jailed, however he quit politics since.
The opening of the University of Tetova in 1994 served as a trial balloon for the parallel independent educational institutions of the Albanians in Macedonia. The plan was to create similar institutions around other areas of the economy as well.
In 1994 Muhamed Halili, then coordinator of the now split Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), declared to a Bulgarian newspaper that the party still wanted to achieve autonomy, and the 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 1999 the Albanian Paramilitary of the Republic of Ilirida had been created, and were deemed illegal by the government of Skopje, however tolerated.
In 2002 the Army of the Republic of Ilirida was created. The goal of the army is to incorporate Western Macedonia into Albania or into Kosovo. Allegedly composed of 200 members, it was rumored that the army members took an oath with Leka Zogu, then Crown Prince of Albania, however he denied that.
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 declare the formation 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 organise a referendum if his plans are ignored by the government.