Kryegjyshata Botërore Bektashiane

Albania Announces Plans for a Brand-New State Within Tirana

Envisioned as a brand-new microstate within Tirana, this planned quarter-of-the-Vatican-sized territory (around 10 hectares) is intended to act as a ‘new centre of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence,’ with clearly defined borders, passports and an autonomous administration. It would be ruled in a theoretical, religious manner by the Bektashi leader Baba Mondi, with citizenship limited to members of the clergy and administration. Framed by its proponents as a way of solidifying the Bektashi Order’s mission of spiritual moderation, protecting religious practices, and strengthening community identity and presence on the global stage, the proposed state is also controversial, with critics arguing it could disrupt Albania’s historically balanced relationship between religion and state. - Liv Kelly