KONARE

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KONARE, short for Komiteti Nacional Revolucionar (Revolutionary National Committee), was a left‑wing group of Albanian political exiles in Europe from 1925 to the mid‑1930s. Its main leader was Fan Noli, a bishop who led the opposition to the Albanian government.

After the June Revolution, Ahmet Zogu overthrew Noli’s government with help from Yugoslavia and Greece. Many opponents fled to Italy and then to Western Europe, especially Vienna, where two groups formed: KONARE and Bashkimi Kombëtar (National Union). KONARE was strongly anti‑Zog, anti‑feudal, anti‑imperialist, and had pro‑Soviet leanings.

KONARE received financial support from the Comintern (the Soviet Communist International) through Kosta Boshnjaku, one of the first Soviet emissaries in Albania. The group also drew in members from the Kosovo irredentist movement who opposed Zogu. According to Sejfi Vllamasi’s memoirs, KONARE’s founders included Fan Noli along with Qazim Koculi, Mustafa Kruja, Riza Dani, Xhevat Korça, and other civilians and officers such as Kol Tromara, Qazim Kokoshi, Llano Borshi, Major Shefqet Korça, Captains Aziz Çami and Riza Cerova. Youth members from the Bashkimi group included Halim Xhelo, Sejfulla Malëshova, Llazar Fundo, Qamil Ça la, Demir Godelli, Selim Shpuza, Haki Stërmilli, Reshat Këlliçi, and others. Their main newspaper was Liria Kombëtare (National Freedom).

In April 1927 the group changed its name to Komiteti i Çlirimit Kombëtar (National Liberation Committee). By 1928 it was effectively under Comintern control, and 24 young Albanians were sent to Moscow for study. Despite these efforts, KONARE did not pose a real threat to Zogu’s regime. Zogu had already become President in 1925 and then King Zog I in 1928, establishing a constitutional monarchy. Noli eventually retired from politics and moved back to the United States, and KONARE faded away by the mid‑1930s. Many of its members joined the parallel National Union, which continued opposing Zogu, including the assassination attempt of 1931.