Valley Albanians seek to get involved in dialogue

Albanians in the Presevo Valley demand that their issue be included in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. According to them in this process, there should be a comprehensive solution, where through the principle of reciprocity, minority rights should be addressed in a symmetrically. Therefore, they stress that Albanians in the Valley must have the rights the Serb community demands in Kosovo.

The head of the Albanian National Council in the Presevo Valley, Ragmi Mustaf, says of Kosova Preress, that Albanians in the Valley have been subjected to a systematic discrimination by Serbian authorities.

“What is important for us, within the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to address the issue of the Presevo Valley. It has done so far, and we hope that the next steps in approach as programmatic, as systematic as a comprehensive solution to, including the political-juridic issue of Albanians in the Presevo Valley... For us, reciprocity is important. Through reciprocity, equality is meant, and it implies the treatment of minority rights in a symmetric manner. What Albanians in the Presevo Valley absolutely want everyone else, but at the same time what others are looking for is important for Albanians in the Presevo Valley to benefit. Reciprocity is vital, considering that Albanians in the valley are subjected to systematic discrimination”, he says.

Mustafi points out that the failure of Albanian addresses in the Valley is an ugly and unconstitutional act Serbia is using.

He adds that on the basis of data so far there are about five-six thousand citizens who have been deployed so far, unable Albanian citizens in Serbia to obtain basic documents such as ID and passport.

Mustafi says this has been addressed even in international mechanisms, so he calls on Serbia to stop doing so and to return all addresses of Albanians who have been taken away or disabled.

“Having addresses is an administrative act through which the address is erased and unable to obtain basic documents, IDs, passports and so forth. What is important to us is that this act is unconstitutional, anti-civilizing and even anti-human. We've addressed all international mechanisms, made special reports regarding the treatment of this subject. Considering it's an ugly act, we've demanded that in the first place the follow-up cease, secondly, to return to all of the addresses of Albanians who have been taken or since they've been moved... statistical data is problematic to be, but what some of the non-governmental organisations have released is considered to be about 5-6 thousand citizens have been deployed so far. Direct statistical data, despite having extended the request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia, but so far we have not received accurate information about what is going on with this process”, he adds.

In addition, Mustafi wants the Kosovo government, but also Albania's, to pressure Serbia to implement the agreements signed with political representatives of the Presevo Valley of Albanians.

We as the Albanian National Council have consistently had intensive co-operation and communication with the Government of Kosovo and the Government of Albania. We have consistently dealt with even specific topics involving the daily life of people, but also topics related to dialogue with Kosovo, but the implementation of agreements signed by the Government of Serbia with the institutional and political representatives of the Presevo Valley Albanians, which now have no will and two decades to implement them”, Mustaf points out.

However, he is grateful for last week's visit to the Presevo Valley of Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi and Minister of Education, Science and Technology Arberie Nagavci.

This is of particular importance to all Albanians in the Presevo Valley, taking into account that they have financed free books for primary-class Albanian students, from first to eighth grade. At the same time, they met and talked with political leaders about political issues”, Mustaf concluded. /Kosovo pres/