Albanian-American League responds to what is happening to Albanians in Presevo Valley

In their letter, the League shows Albania's continued efforts for international recognition of the difficulties of residents in the Valley. It shows how Albanian records have been erased. They also require the involvement of Americans in dialogue.

This is the full letter:

The Perseverable Crisis in Presevo Valley
Dear friends and supporters,

The Albanian Civic League felt it heartily when it learned that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti held a meeting 24 May with Presevo Valley representatives out of concern for Serbia's intensified effort to make Albanians in Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanoc invisible by deleting their addresses.

The Citizens League believes Serbia must face the lack of human rights for Albanians in the Presevo Valley in sharp contrast to the full human and civilian rights granted to Serbs in northern Kosovo.

Many ethnic Albanians from Presevo Valley gave their lives in Kosovo war and, later, especially as members of U CPMB in the 2000-2001 Presevo conflict. Therefore, we believe today's political leadership in the Presevo Valley must overcome party differences and rivalry so that we can work together to advance the fight of Albanians in the region for equality, functioning democracy and civic freedom.

The Albanian-American Civic League has been working continuously with representatives of ethnic Albanians in the Presevo Valley since the late 1990s. Joe DioGuardi, President and Shirley Cloyers Dio Guardi, Balkan Affairs Adviser, have met with leaders from Presevo Valley almost every time they have visited Kosovo from 1999 to 2008. (These meetings were usually held in Gjilan. )

In March 2001, DioGuardi and Cloes crossed the border in southern Serbia to meet with U leaders CPMB Rhets Musliu, Sami Azemi and Jonuz Musliu at their headquarters in Concul to discuss their peace plan. Five months later, in August 2001, the Civic League brought the Mayor of Presevo Riza Halimi, Ternocit Chairman Galip Beqiri and Shaip Kamberi, head of the Centre for Human Rights in Bujanoc, to meet with Congressman Ben Gillman, chairman of the Chamber of International Relations, for a three-hour discussion of continued human rights abuses by Serbian authorities in the Presevo Valley and the worsening process of peace implementation.

Cloyers Diogardi raised international awareness of the printing of Albanians in southern Serbia in January 2009, when it documented the torture, arrest and imprisonment of ten Albanians in southern Serbia to “The Development of the Presevo Valley”.

In October 2015, the Civic League organised Ragmi Mustafa and Nagip Arifi, then mayor of the Presevo and Bujanoc municipalities, accompanied by AACL Executive Board member Faton Bislimi, to travel to Washington DC, to expose Belgrade's discriminated anti-Albanian policy before members of Congress, Tomtos the Congregation Commissioner for Human Rights and State Department (where they were hosted by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Thomas Yanzger). At the end of this successful trip, the Presevo Valley delegation was interviewed by the Albanian Voice Service of America.

These efforts continued with meetings in Strasbourg in February 2016 at the main offices of the Council of Europe, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Albanian representatives from the Presevo Valley ʹRagmi Mustafa, Nagip Arifi and Jonuz Musliu (who unfortunately changed lives two years later) ♫ and Faton Bislimi of AACL gave evidence of Serbia's state-sponsored and institutional policy for the population of the region by hitting civilians cerregistered every Albanian who was not at home when state officials visited their unmarked families for “the destination of the settlement <1x> After being removed from the civil registry, Albanians cannot receive IDs, passports or any other state official document, thus losing their status of residence and citizenship in Serbia.

In May 2019, Joe and Shirley DioGard arranged for a delegation of ethnic Albanian representatives from Presevo Valley to come to Washington, DC, to join them at the annual conference of former members of Congress held at the Capitol Hill. During this visit, Ardita Sinani, Ragmi Mustafa, Shaip Kamberi and the AACL Faton Bislimi met with senior staff for members of the US House of Representatives Commission. A., directors of Congress' Commission for Human Rights Tom Lantos and foreign policy advisers of senators Joni Ernst and Gary Peters, co-chairman of the Albanian Affairs Group. The delegation also met with State Department officials and wrapped up his visit by interviewing the Albanian Voice Service of America.

Since then, at the request of the Civic League, Faton Bislim has kept in touch and held meetings with Albanian representatives from Presevo Valley. In September 2020, as a member of the Kosovo Parliament, Bislimi played an essential role in drafting the work programme for the newly established Office for the Presevo Valley within the Government of Kosovo under the leadership of then Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti.

We hope that the Kosovo government will operate the Office for the Presevo Valley as soon as possible and work with leaders from that region to address their pressing issues systematically and completely.

We further believe that a dialogue Kosovo-Serbia under the auspices of the European Union cannot result in a successful comprehensive and legally binding agreement between the two countries without providing a sustainable solution to inequalities in the Presevo Valley.

The Civic League also welcomes recent news that those clubs, societies and Albanian associations throughout Switzerland whose members come from the Presevo Valley are joining their efforts to support their homeland.

Recently, we strongly believe that ethnic Albanian issues in the Presevo Valley can only be successfully resolved with the active involvement of the American government. For this reason, the Albanian Citizens League is continuing its commitment two decades to the Presevo Valley to help shape US foreign policy to bring peace, equality, freedom and prosperity to the region.

All the best,

Shirley Chloe Diogood Joe DioGuard

Balkan Affairs Adviser President