With more than 100,000 Kosovo refugees expected to pour into Albania by tomorrow, panic-stricken officials in Tirana said authorities had begun ferrying the incomers southwards.
Mr Sokol Gjoka, spokesman at the Albanian foreign ministry, said plans were under way to move the refugees to the capital as well as the towns of Gjirokaster and Vlore in the south. "They can't stay in the north. It is the poorest part of Europe. We don't have the means to keep them there," he said.
The decision to relocate the refugees is bound to cause widespread consternation in Greece, which has its own minority spread around the rocky hills of southern Albania.
The 300,000-strong community has frequently sparked friction between the two Balkan neighbours. Until recently Athens often accused Tirana of deliberately trying to change the region's delicate demographic make-up. With its explosive mix of Orthodox Christians and Muslims, southern Albania has long been regarded as a potential Balkan flashpoint.
"It's not only going to cause problems with the Greek minority if their homes and properties are used to house the refugees," said Prof Thanos Veremis, who heads an Athens-based Balkan think tank. "It's also going to further strain ties between Albania's two clans. The southern Tosks are not going to like it at all if they're suddenly inundated by thousands of northern Gegs from Kosovo."