Dua Lipa sparks online storm by sharing map linked to Albanian nationalism

Map has been linked with support for Albanian expansion in the Balkans

Pop star Dua Lipa has sparked controversy online by sharing an image of a map associated with extreme Albanian nationalists.

Lipa, who was born in Britain but has Albanian heritage and spent part of her youth in Kosovo, retweeted a map of the two nations on Sunday.

The map, emblazoned with Albania’s eagle emblem, incorporated sections of other countries in the Balkans region and included a definition of the word “autochthonous”.

Autochthonous refers to the indigenous inhabitants of a country, as opposed to settlers who live there.

By sharing a picture of the map next to the word autochthonous, Lipa, 24, appears to have suggested that Kosovar-Albanians are indigenous to the region.

This is a claim refuted by Serbian people. Lipa’s retweet came after a petition calling for Kosovo to be shown on Apple Maps as an independent nation appeared online.

The Independent has contacted Lipa’s representatives for comment.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, becoming Europe’s youngest country, more than a decade after NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia.

Albanian nationalists claim they settled the country before the Serbs. Therefore, they say Kosovo is a country of ethnic Albanians.