Hoxhaj for the Presevo Valley: Two seats on Kosovo's list of deputies, citizenship

Candidate of Kosovo Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj's PDK has held today a Media Conference through which it has come up with several public pledges concerning the inclusion of the Presevo Valley in Kosovo's public and political life.

In those pledges, Hoxhaj has said, among other things, that the PDK will include two representatives from the Presevo Valley for MPs on its list, as well as launch the initiative for Albanians of the Presevo Valley to be equipped with ID and passport of the Republic of Kosovo. 

In the seven vows today the candidate has made public The PDK for prime minister includes the Law for Support of Albanians in the Presevo Valley, the founding of the State Agency for the Presevo Valley, increased quotas for students from the Valley, and the creation of new quotas for students expelled from the Valley in Kosovo, four new border points with the Presevo Valley, and the permanent Fund for the return of the Valley Albanians expelled from their hearths

Read the full statement of the candidate for prime minister, Enver Hoxhaj:

Dear citizens,

Dear journalists,

Let me first wish you all New Year's Eve and wish this year to bring health and prosperity to your families. I also hope that in the new year, citizens will not be disturbed by the disappointments they suffered in the past year with the two governments of failure and the parties that misgovern.

This is the first conference for this year, and it speaks of the seriousness and determination we have as the Democratic Party to present a new offer to the country's citizens and a contract that we will tie together and represent the expectations of 2021. 

In the last week of 2020, following proposals we unveiled for the diaspora, today as Kosovo's next prime minister will present to Kosovo's citizens our concrete pledges for another part of the nation that does not live in Kosovo, but in the Presevo Valley, which has been a constant concern for the Democratic Party.

As a war - torn and patriotic - based party, it has always been devoted to extending the support of our Presevo Valley brothers and sisters.

The ongoing Democratic Party has conveyed the state of the Valley Albanians with concern, their serious economic situation, the state discrimination exercised against them and the plague of Albanian migration from their seats in Presevo, Bujanoc and Medvedja.

We are not a populist party talking about the nation and the Valley just for votes, nor are we parties for commercial flags that patriotism is just about image, but it's not about what we do. The PDK has always, with concrete actions, taken alongside our brothers in the Valley.

I'm just mentioning a few of what we did when we led the country's government:

(a) The Democratic Party and the Thaci Government had launched the first Albanian-language performers in the direction of the Valley.

(b)  The Democratic Party, Prime Minister Thaci and I as foreign minister, have been at the helm of the battle to pressure Serbia on the topic of the UCPM monument in Presevo.

(c)   At the time when Hashim Thaci was prime minister, in January 2014, the Government of Kosovo and Albania for the first time shared a fund of financial support for the Valley.

(d)    Mayor Kadri Wessel has always had a weak spot in the destiny and discrimination situation of Albanians in the Presevo Valley.

(e)     It has been the position of President Kadri Wessel and continues to be my position as the next prime minister that no peace deal can happen between Kosovo and Serbia unless the issue of Albanians in the Presevo Valley is addressed and this will be the key negotiating position of the government led by me and the PDK.

So today, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, as the natural and historical ally of Albanians in the Presevo Valley, and I as the next prime minister, declared these vows public:

1.  The PDK will include on its list of deputies two representatives from the Presevo Valley representing each Valley municipality, so that the voice of Albanians from the Presevo Valley is heard in the Kosovo Assembly.

2. The PDK will initiate the Law for Support of Albanians in the Presevo Valley, which would guarantee the Kosovo Government's legal pledges to Albanians in the Valley by creating necessary structures, providing financial support and support for educational, cultural and social development.

3. The PDK and the PDK-led government will establish the State Agency for the Presevo Valley as the Kosovo Co-ordinating Body for addressing the challenges of Albanians in the Valley and for co-ordinating Kosovo state aid. This agency will be under the direct supervision of Kosovo's prime minister.

4. The PDK will take the initiative for Albanians in the Presevo Valley to be equipped with the ID and passport of the Republic of Kosovo. This will be realised through the PDK initiative to legislate the Law on Kosovo Status.

5. The PDK will undertake increasing quotas for students from the Valley and creating new quotas for students from Valley in Kosovo.

6. The PDK and the PDK-led government will open four new border checkpoints with the Presevo Valley, so as to facilitate the circulation of Albanians in the Valley. These border points will be in these villages of Muhoc Valley, Breznica, Dobros and Ranatoc.

7. The PDK will create the permanent Fund for the return of Albanians of the Valley expelled from their hearths. This Kosovo Government Fund will be worth 5m euros a year and will be guided by economic, cultural, rual and educational development of the Presevo Valley.

Brothers and sisters of the Valley,

Finally, let me congratulate you New Year's Eve, Albanians in the Valley and assure you that these are the seven pledges which the Democratic Party and I as the next prime minister declare before you that we will implement since the first months of government.