Albanian Migration as a Post-Totalitarian Legacy

The totalitarian regime in Albania was considered as one of the most rigid and isolated in all of Eastern Europe from 1945 to 1991. Starting from 1990 when the system collapsed, Albania has witnessed one of the great migrations of recent times. This Balkan country has experienced the highest level of international migration after the fall of the communist regime compared to other post-communist countries in Eastern Europe. The paper seeks to understand the phenomenon of Albanian emigration (from Albania – not from other parts of the Balkans e.g. Kosovo, Macedonia) as one of the major features of post-totalitarian legacy. The first part of the text provides a brief overview of the Albanian communism system, the second part is an analysis of different waves of Albanian emigration after the collapse of communism, and the third part presents the current situation regarding Albanian migration. The article offers an overview of Albanian post-communist migration and represents a summary of up-to-date knowledge about this phenomenon.