Albania can cede a small part of its territory to create a new country. The autonomous state would be aimed at the Bektashi Muslim minority currently living in the Balkan country.
The new country would function similarly to the Vatican — a sovereign state governed by the Catholic Church — but commanded by Muslim leaders. It would be located within Tirana, the capital of Albania, in yet another similarity to the Vatican, which is in Rome, the capital of Italy.
The proposal to create the new State came from the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, who claims to aim to promote religious tolerance. He has defended the idea since 2024, but the project remains stuck in the Albanian Legislature and is considered controversial in the country.
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Rama’s plan calls for the new state to have its own borders and administration. The prime minister, however, has already declared that it would be “a country without walls, without police, without army, without taxes or other attributes, but a headquarters, a spiritual State”.
Currently, the area already belongs to the Bektashi Order, a current of Islam. The order’s leader, Baba Mondi, supports the project.
If the proposal is approved, the smallest country in the world in terms of territory will be created — a position currently occupied by the Vatican. According to the North American newspaper The New York Timesthe new country would have 100 thousand m², the equivalent of five blocks of New York, while the headquarters of the Holy See has around 440 thousand m².
