Gent Cakaj: Serbia performs ethnic cleansing “masquerading” of Albanians in Valley

Cakaj said that at a time when Serbia will hold the next year of the national provision, “the implementation of Albanian addresses” has started.

The “is a well-massed process. It's been going on since 2011. On behalf of verifying addresses if Albanians do not result in the declared residential location they register as fugitives. At this moment, the address is unvisited and therefore denied the right to vote”, the minister told Euronews Albania.

Cakaj drew the example of Medvedja, where he said, in 2015, Albanians from the Presevo Valley living in Kosovo were not allowed to vote after they closed the border.

At this rate, he said, it is dangerous that Albanians reach less than 15% of the population of Medvedja, and thus the Albanian language will no longer be official.

Albania's foreign minister said these actions of Serbia are a “ethnic cleansing disguised with Serbian state bureaucracy” and good state efforts meant for reducing the political influence of Albanians”.

Cakaj said the international factor should be alarmed for this problem and the Council of Europe reacts, as well as this issue should kill and the European Commission's eye”.

Albania's foreign minister spoke for the first time of a cancelled meeting with his Serbian counterpart because the state of Serbia refuses to grant permission for the opening of the Albanian consulate in Medvedja.

My “communication with the government and government officials of Serbia is too limited to the moon exist. I never had a bilateral meeting with any of Serbia's foreign ministers. It was a planned meeting, but because of the circumstances I canceled and I canceled. The point of that meeting's talks was the opening of the general consulate in Bujanovac, for which Serbia is still not responding positively, and this shows something about its will regarding regional union and bilateral relations”, Cakaj said.

Unlike the prime minister's stance, Edi Rama so far, he said Serbia has shown no will in bilateral co-operation with Albania. Albania's foreign minister said Serbia remains the country with more bilateral problems in the Western Balkans, as well as has not distanced itself from the past. He even accused the EU at this point of not condemning the crimes committed in Kosovo.

I think the main problem in regional co-operation continues to remain Serbia because it is the only country that continues to mix with the internal affairs of at least three Western Balkan states, and I am deliberately saying at least three. Vuciq has not distanced himself from the past in relation to Albanians and Kosovo. The EU has been somewhat alert regarding Serbia's criminal heritage in Kosovo”, Cakaj said.