Edit: This thread needs some more Revan.
Here here.
Weaste in 3, 2, 1
Your comment 'how can I be English, when I am not white' in another thread would look a bit racist, but to a degree I understand and agree with it. England historically has been a place of Anglo-Saxons so obviously a not-white person isn't an anglo-saxon. But if they have been borned there I think that they can feel English, so I don't think that there is anything bad on representing England.
Talking about Januzaj, I think that the right choice for him is to represent Albania (Kosovo in case it gets accepted on FIFA but knowing that this won't happen in near future, at the time shouldn't be an option). That has nothing to do with me being Kosovan and wanting to see Adnan playing for us (though of course I would like that), so I am going to elaborate a bit. I don't know Adnan (though the city when his father come is only 30km away from the city I was borned and spent most of my life) but I know a lot of Kosovans who live outside (mostly in EU states and Switzerland). Many of them are my relatives and a few are my prime cousins. There are a lot of them who have gone outside of Kosovo when they were very young and by now they have spend 2-3 decades there. There are a few of them who have been borned in those countries (for those who aren't familiar with the situation, in nineties there was a war here which was preceded by very bad living conditions, more than 90% of Albanians in Kosovo lost their job after Milosevic came in power in Serbia and Albanians didn't have any human rights despite being around 90% of the population. All schools except the primary one were closed so my siblings and hundred of thousand of other Kosovans were forced to go in improvised schools. We didn't had right to get outside after 7 o'clock. Not going to mention all of bad things, but I think is clear to understand that the situation which preceded the Kosovo war was fecking bad. So, a lot of Kosovans - 1/3 of total population - were forced to leave their homes and look for a better future outside of Yugoslavia.) but I don't know any of them who doesn't feel Kosovan (Albanian) and doesn't mention it almost every time. From famous person like 'British' singer Rita Ora who has mentioned a lot of time that she is a Kosovan, or famous boxers like 'German' Luan Krasniqi to usual people, all of them say that they are Albanians, despite they probably doesn't spend more than a month per year in Kosovo.
Knowing all these persons, I doubt that Januzaj is a special case and feels a 'Belgian'. If he does, then I don't have nothing against it, but he would likely be the first Kosovan (Albanian) I know (from real life or from media) to not feel a Kosovan.
I think that the situation is hard to understand by people who have lived all of their lifes in their ancesters country. For that I think that the comments like 'Adnan should represent Belgium' (or in extreme cases England) are a bit naive and are given by persons who aren't familiar with Albanian community . Like for example, until recently Albanians from Kosovo in 99% of the cases didn't marry foreign women, this has changed in the recent years though which I think is a good thing. Of when they make a wedding they invite there all other Kosovans that they know, even if they haven't stayed with them for years, etc, etc.
Generalizing the situation, I think that a foreigner is always a foreigner. He doesn't get treated as 'one of us' by the new community (although it's great that now isn't as bad as before) and most definitely he doesn't also feels like 'one of them'. Especially if he has gone in that certain country after he has grown up. I am living for the moment at Italy and I don't feel Italian. I love England (they are one of the countries who have helped Kosovo a lot and if it wasn't for Tony Blair I don't know if NATO would have ever intervened in Kosovo war) and even if I come there, and find a great work that gets payed better than here (or my native country) I doubt for a moment that I will feel that I am an English. I would be proud to be a part of the community who lives in UK, would be always respectful to them for giving me the chance, but how can I feel to be something that I am not. Same about any other country.
Of course, the situation isn't black and white but I find ridiculous when some players represent countries that they aren't blood related with, or haven't been borned in that country. I think that the 'naturalization' rules are a joke. In my opinion, you should be able to play for a country either if you are blood related with them, or have been borned there. For that, I think that if Januzaj chooses Albania it is because he feels an Albanian, if he chooses Belgium it is because he is choosing a great country and team to play for and/or he feels Belgian, if he chooses England it is only because of money/fame/marketing. There is no way that a person can feel that he is - in this case English - if he doesn't have English ancesters, have lived most of his life somewhere else and has lived only for a couple of years there. If he chooses England (and I can almost guarantee that this won't happen) he is just a mercenary, nothing else, nothing more.