Presevo Valley: We want seats in talks between Kosovo and Serbia

The Presevo Valley Albanians are demanding that they be also physically part of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia to present their demands.

Representatives of Presevo, Medvedja's Bujanoc, the municipality in southern Serbia, also known as Presevo Valley, say it is meaningless to talk with Serbia about normalising relations, without the inclusion of the Presevo Valley.

Presevo Mayor Ardita Sinani tells Radio Free Europe that their presence at the negotiating table in Brussels is necessary.

The Presevo Valley issue must be part of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, as well as the topic through the physical presence of the Valley's elected. It is dangerous to decide the fate of the Valley without involvement and without the will of the citizens of the Valley”, Sinan says.

Sinan made these comments, referring to earlier reports that Kosovo and Serbia could agree on finding a solution involving the exchange of territories, with which Kosovo would give Serbia a majority-run Serb north, and take the Presevo Valley, which is predominantly Albanianly inhabited.

Sinani says their permanent requirement remains joining Kosovo.

If the change, correction of borders is discussed, then Presevo Valley should be attached as a whole to the Republic of Kosovo. That has been the request of Albanians in the Presevo Valley since the 1992 referendum”, Sinan says.

She says unilateral solutions not to deepen the crisis and conflict should be included in the Presevo Valley in the dialogue in Brussels.

The head of the Albanian National Council in Serbia, Ragmi Mustaf, says peace between Kosovo and Serbia is achieved through the Presevo Valley.

Mustaf says they have asked Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti for the issue of the Presevo Valley to be addressed within the dialogue.

The “This is about the fact that it cannot be unilateral dialogue, where topics can be opened on the internal regulatory issues of the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia's internal adjustment themes cannot be opened. That means the issue of the Albanian legal status of the Presevo Valley” should also be opened, says Mustafi. In the Government of Kosovo, they have not said whether representatives of the Presevo Valley will be part of the Kosovo delegation in talks with Serbia. “Sic has stressed the prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, the meeting in Brussels is dialogue for dialogue, is in service of the new dialogue and agreement chapter on his agenda”, the government's response reported.

But, as for dialogue as a new chapter, the European Union has another opinion by Prime Minister Kurti, as it insists that this is the continuation of the dialogue on normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Waiting for the Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti's meeting with Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq in Brussels, expected to be held in June, EU officials have said that “dialog started in 2011 and will continue with the new meeting, at the high level that will soon take place”. Salihu: EU, Serbia may oppose Valley presence in dialogue

Physical involvement of representatives of the Presevo Valley would be welcome, says analyst Fitim Salihu.

Even if this is not possible in this current format of dialogue, according to him, they may be present in this process through their own ideas or their demands that they may present to the Government of Kosovo. But, Salihu says this may not be well received by Brussels or then Serbia may seek the involvement of local Serbs in the dialogue.

“I am skeptical if the EU and Serbia would agree to be representatives of the Presevo Valley as part of the Kosovo delegation. Even if it was the fact that they did not participate physically, but their demand was delegated through the Government of Kosovo, it would still be okay even if they were not present even though the best possible would be for them to be at table”, Salihu says.

Representatives of the Presevo Valley have repeatedly raised concerns about the progression of the addresses of Kosovo Albanian residents Medvedja and Bujanoc. According to data from the Albanian National Council in Serbia, there are over 3,000 addresses that have been opened in Medvedja and over 2,000 in the Bujanoc Presevo.

With the European Union's mediation, dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia began in 2011. Through this process, a comprehensive agreement is aimed at normalising reports between the two countries.