A sovereign micro-state of Muslims is being established in Europe, following the Vatican model

Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that the Albanian government wants to create a „sovereign state” of the Sufi Bektashi Islamic order, a state similar to the Vatican, on a territory of approximately ten hectares in the capital Tirana.

The micro-state will serve as a spiritual home for Bektashi Muslims, the fourth-largest religious community in Albania, after Sunni Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Catholics, AFP reports.

“Our inspiration is to support the transformation of the Bektashi World Center in Tirana into a sovereign state, a new center of moderation, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence,” said Edi Rama in a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York, released by the Albanian Prime Minister’s office.

Members of the Bektashi Sufi order represent approximately 10% of Albania’s population, according to the 2023 census.

Albania, a country where just under 50% of its 2.4 million inhabitants are Muslim, is known for its tradition of religious tolerance.

Founded in the 13th century in the Ottoman Empire, this religious order is considered a tolerant and mystical branch of Islam, open to other religions and philosophies.

Some of the most important leaders of the Bektashi order settled in Albania after the banning of the brotherhood in Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century. One of these leaders proclaimed Albania’s independence in 1912, ending Ottoman rule.

The Bektashi order in Tirana welcomed Prime Minister Edi Rama’s announcement.

“The sovereignty of the Bektashi order constitutes an important step in strengthening the values of inclusion, religious harmony, and dialogue in an increasingly divided world,” the announcement was welcomed in a press release, which specifies that the order „will obtain a sovereignty similar to that of the Vatican.”

In the future state, citizenship will only be granted to members of its clergy and administration.

The government will be led by the head of the order and a council that will oversee its religious and administrative functioning.

The new state will occupy the same land where the Bektashi World Center is currently located, approximately „ten hectares” – about a quarter of the Vatican’s area – and „will have as its sole purpose spiritual leadership,” according to the Sufi order’s press release.

The date and manner in which this micro-state will be proclaimed have not yet been disclosed