Interviewed on Athina 9,84, Bledar Feta talked about his research, for which he recently won an award from the Southeast Europe Association in Munich, into why second-generation Albanians left Greece and returned to their ancestral homeland during the debt crisis.
Explaining the principal findings of his empirical research, Feta noted that: “The second-generation returnees moved to Albania for mainly economic reasons and at their parents’ request”. He then explained why these young people found it hard to adjust to the Albanian reality, primarily due to their unfamiliarity with the Albanian language, but also because “Albania has not also been ready to welcome these youngsters”, especially with regard to educating them in Albanian schools.
One of the most significant findings is their “feeling of not belonging” either in Greece or in Albania. “They felt like an invisible generation”, like they had no homeland, though this feeling has changed for those who chose to continue their careers in other European countries. “There, they felt like European citizens and this is perhaps the most positive finding of the research project”, Feta stressed, noting that in that case only Greece and Albania have been negatively affected.
Click to listen the interview in Greek (29:30)
