Kamber sends letters to Escobar, urges that Valley and Valley be included in dialogue

That, according to him, at the request for the inclusion of the Presevo Valley, on the issue of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, as there is a new dynamic resulting in negotiations.

” In the phase when international mediators, it seems that Kosovo's dialogue with Serbia is giving a new dynamic, waiting for the Presevo Valley to be included, in the dialogue that it calls the last opportunity to solve the Albanian issue, today, through this letter, I addressed US special envoy for the Western Balkans, Mr. Gabriell Escobar.

A letter of the same content will be conveyed to Josep Borell, the European Union's High Representative for Jobs.

Foreign and Security Policy Ursula von der Leyeen, president of the European Commission.
Presevo Valley, January 24, 2023

Gabriel Escobar

Deputy Secretary

State Department

United States

Request for inclusion of Albanian community representatives in Presevo Valley at upcoming dialogue meetings between Kosovo and Serbia

Dear Mr. Gabriel Escobar,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the renewed efforts in your role as US special envoy for the Western Balkans to reach a final and legally binding agreement for the comprehensive normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, focused on mutual recognition between the two states.

Following our October 15th 2022 meeting in Washington, DC, I am writing to reiterate the position of elected representatives of the Presevo Valley Albanians to be involved in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia to address the situation of the Albanian community in the Presevo Valley.
Please allow me briefly to present the situation of the Albanian community in Presevo, which remains difficult despite the government's pledges of Serbia to work towards a prosperous future and guarantees offered to the Albanian community by the international community after the 2001 armed conflict.

When the peace agreement was signed, the Albanians of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanoc became confident that real political dialogue and reforms would significantly improve the overall state of Albanians and engage in negotiations with Belgrade authorities in trust.

Repeated delays in meeting these pledges led to two additional agreements on affirmation of Albanian rights (2009 and 2013), which, unfortunately, remain largely unmet by the Belgrade authorities.
While writing this letter 22 years after the conflict, the Albanian community in the Presevo Valley remains the most discriminated minority in the Republic of Serbia. No move has been taken to end economic discrimination against Albanians, address the very low representation of Albanians in state institutions and government-controlled enterprises, and reduce the presence of military forces in the region.
Since 2008, Serbia's hostility to Kosovo independence affected Albanians in Presevo after

Serbia refuses to recognise university degrees from Kosovo universities, thus disqualified 15 generations of Albanians with Kosovo diplomas from employment in state institutions.
Albanians in the Presevo Valley are currently denied the right to use national symbols and flag, the key element of Albanian national identity. Militarisation is consistently used as a frightening strategy for the local Albanian community.

To reduce the number of Albanians living in the Presevo Valley as much as possible, Serbian authorities are making the so-called follow-up of residential addresses belonging to Albanians, the practice Serbia's Helsinki Committee has named it “a form of ethnic cleansing through administrative means.” In addition to these current complaints, the growing albanophobia is being normalised, expressed through inflammatory and insulting statements against Albanians, made by top state officials of the ruling coalition in Serbia, in political and media discourse.

The combined effects of national identity printing, discrimination, mistreatment and intimidation are forcing young people to leave Presevo Valley in search of better opportunities in EU member states.

Since the political and institutional discrimination of the Presevo Valley Albanians is often the result of tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, we believe that the inclusion of the Albanian community in Presevo in the dialogue will help EU and US mediators work symmetrically and balancedly, arrangements for protection and promoting minority rights for the Albanian community in Serbia and the Serb community in Kosovo in line with European values and international acts.
The symmetry of the treatment of relevant national minorities should be an essential element of the legally binding normalisation agreement so that Serbia and Kosovo can advance on their respective European roads. This will prevent the Presevo Valley from becoming another conflict and avert the continuing source of instability between Kosovo and Serbia with broader implications in the Western Balkans.

In light of renewed efforts by EU mediators, United Kingdom, France, Germany and increased US engagement, in my quality as elected representative of the Presevo Valley Albanians (Deputations of the U.S.

Serbia's Parliament, I call at the upcoming EU-led dialogue meetings to include the situation of Albanians in the Presevo Valley as an essential element for achieving long-term and lasting peace between Albanians and Serbs.

To inform you more clearly about the overall situation of Albanians living in the Presevo Valley, I extend my invitation to you and your European counterparts to pay a visit to Albanian municipalities in Serbia to meet with Albanian representatives and community leaders to discuss their concerns.

We remain willing to work with you and your colleagues in organising a productive exploratory visit to the Presevo Valley ahead of the upcoming round of EU-led dialogue meetings.

In the end, I would like to reiterate that the Albanian elected representatives of the Presevo Valley remain fully committed to supporting your efforts to achieve the full normalisation of relations with Serbia based on mutual respect and reciprocity.

Honestly,
Shaip Kamberi MP”