Balls for Bosnian television: To be honest, more rights we have in Kosovo than Bosniaks have in Bosnia

The Bosniak community MP in the Kosovo Assembly, Duda Balje, invited to a Bosnian television, has talked about the problems facing this community in Kosovo.

Balje, among other things, has said Bosnians in Kosovo are positively discriminated against, even said they have more rights than Bosnians have in Bosnia.

I tell you the truth, we have more rights in Kosovo than Bosnians have in Bosnia. The representation, for example, is very little represented by numbers as you are, while we, 30 thousand Bosniaks, have 3 seats in Parliament, we have ministers, we have five deputy ministers, we have maybe about 20 councilors in Government, we have deputy mayor in Prizren, in Dragas, in Pec, I mean, we're everywhere in Kosovo. We have the right to language, we have the news in Bosnian...”, it said in “FaceTv”

Balje says Bosniaks in Kosovo are very well accepted by Albanians, while he says Bosniaks, both before the war and after, have done nothing wrong to Albanians. It even says Bosniaks fight for Kosovo.

At all schools, Kosovo universities, we have reserved seats. We have tests in Bosnian. We also have the quotas, for example, if an Albanian needs 20 points to register at a university, we need 9. Practically, we have rights that I don't believe you have here”, says the Bosnian MP of the Kosovo Assembly.

She says she has had problems at first, but she says she knows much better now, although there are still problems, but she says she is tolerated by her conversationators.

Duda Balje complains that the Bosnian community in Kosovo has no support for the Bosnian state. He says that “when he talks to the Turkish community, they say we should talk to Erdogan, when he talks to the Serbs, they say we should ask Vuciqi, while we don't have anyone to ask”.

Speaking to the Bosniak community in Kosovo, Balje says the worst are those in the northern part of Kosovo, in the Bosnjak Lagen, which says there are “victims of relations between Albanians and Serbs”.

I find it difficult to help them because there are different political currents. They can't find a job. There is a tense situation, in that part of Kosovo”, the Bosniak MP says.

She says co-operation with the Serb community in Kosovo is very small.

Kosovo Serb representatives boycott the Parliament's work, we don't know what plans they have, we have no information about them. We have very little contact, but we have enough of our problems. Serbia-Kosovo reports are reports between two independent states, despite Serbia's unwilling to accept this”, Balje adds.

Asked what he thinks of Milorad Dodik, leader of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, who has spoken of Republika Srpska's independence in BiH, has said: “I would rather not tell Mr Dodik what I think of him”.

“I have heard it say that Republika Srpska has prevented Bosnia from recognising Kosovo's independence. One thing I can say is that Kosovo will never allow the formation of a Serbian republic on its territory, for which I am sure. I think you've got a huge problem --”, Balje pointed out, referring to Dodik.

When asked what you think of Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, Duda Balje said: “for him I don't think at all, nothing”

The Bosniak MP from the Kosovo Parliament said the community it represents are the cleanest Kosovars living in Kosovo.

“We are the cleanest Kosovars in Kosovo, given that we are alone, we have nobody's support. When we have to vote in Parliament, I have no one to call for consultations. I see that the Serbian List does not enter the Assembly without asking Belgrade, so it is 100 percent under Belgrade directives. I'm there alone with my coalition, with the people inside my coalition. So, I say it publicly here, as I said before, that we are the cleanest Kosovars. We are definitely the cleanest Kosovars”, she said.