Arifi from Washington: I promised neither military nor lobby nor support from Pristina and Tirana to deal with Belgrade.

In Washington these days lies the mayor of the Presevo municipality and chairman of the Alternative for Change, political strength in the majority Albanian municipalities in Serbia, Shqirim Arifi, who is presenting concerns to American officials about the situation of Albanians in the Presevo Valley.

Voice of America: During your meetings here in Washington, one of the main issues you discussed was that of wiping out addresses, or as it is being called having Serbian authorities on display. What steps have been taken by local authorities like you in this regard, so to address this concern?

Arifi pronunciation: First of all, it's the second time I'm in America, and the first time I was in 2020 just before the pandemic was interesting because the State Department wasn't so informed about the postulation. From that point on, these three years have moved a lot about the progression in terms of the preparation of the knowledge of the passive phenomenon, which means that Albanians in the Presevo Valley are selectively, so only Albanians and not Serbs, are passively suspended from their always having it. From that point on, they are also deprived of the possibility of continuing citizens in that country and are endangered by property and civil services, but their identity in that country. From 2020 onward, some documents have been drawn up, first in the 2021 State Department report, we have the pre-launching phenomenon mentioned, from 2022 we have in the human rights report the phenomenon of post-impression mentioned. In the European Union last year, we have managed to make a resolution that strongly condemns the progress of Albanians in the Presevo Valley, but also urges Serbia to clarify why this is done to Albanians specifically. So much has moved, but the results on the ground are still zero because at the moment we have ten thousand Albanians already unscheduled and this phenomenon will not stop from Serbia because you have to understand wherever there are Albanians we are hostage and victims of dialogue. So a dialogue that goes to Kosovo's disparity goes very well against the Presevo Valley. A dialogue that goes in favour of Kosovo would also go in favour of the Presevo Valley. As the dialogue is going to Kosovo's disadvantage, so are we. So the postulation is an issue I asked the American envoys (Gabriel) for. Escobar to be stopped, to become a mortorium of this phenomenon in Serbia towards Albanians, and now we expect what will happen.

Voice of America: Since you mentioned dialogue and how this dialogue directly affects the situation of Albanians in the Valley, how could there be a way to benefit from this process for Albanian communities?

Arifi pronunciation: Proper questions because the demand by the Albanian leadership in the Presevo Valley for decades is now taking place two decades after the Kosovo war, has been to build a logic of reciprocity between Serbs in Kosovo and Albanians in the Presevo Valley. All achievements that make Serbs in Kosovo at the level of their rights, that we have the same achievement, have completely failed Kosovo's policy over the past 20 years, but especially in the last two years. That's because two years ago we've still been hoping to become part of dialogue, to become a subject of dialogue, has been our strong demand, but it's also been a commitment meant by internationals, especially in the United States or even the European Union. But by 2020, the form that dialogue has now taken for the last two years under the leadership of (Alb) Kurti, the issue of Albanians in the Presevo Valley is no longer discussed, and has culminated in the moment the Ohrid Agreement was established. At the moment the Ohrid Agreement is reached, the Presevo Valley issue is over, because this agreement has nothing to say about the reciprocity principle, and the Presevo Valley is not mentioned at all, and in this form even internationals are no longer of great interest in getting Valley into this dialogue. So we just suffer from dialogue now, we don't get anything anymore.

Voice of America: You as political representative and representative to local government in the Valley, how can you affect inside with the government of Serbia? Has there been any progress in this regard in your efforts within Serbia?

Arifi pronunciation: You made me laugh a little bit because you see a Kosovo or a Europe that you can't do anything to Serbia, and leave a municipality. We are approximately 100,000 Albanians there, we are discriminated against now for 30 years, Serbia's policies have not changed just because the war has been fought in Kosovo, because those discriminatory policies have continued in us. We have no power, no army, no lobbies, no support from Pristina or Tirana to deal with Belgrade. In Belgrade there is no will, we are living in a totalitarian state, in a protracted hand of the 1990s leading that state, the same politicians that 30 years are leading Serbia. They're the same ones who've done the Balkan wars and discriminated against and massacred Albanians, so what do we do in Belgrade? We don't have the power to influence there, the only opportunity for us is in the United States, and the United States is supporting us on a continuous basis with projects, but with lobbies, and if it wasn't for the United States in Presevo, we'd be missing. So in this context it is once more important that Kosovo has a leadership, a government that is a sincere partner of the United States, which does not say they are naive, but rather ranks with them against Serbia and against Russia in the context of the Ukrainian war. At the moment, reality is different, Kosovo's governance currently tells Washington naively, and some form leaves our partners in Washington and the European Union suspicious of where Kosovo is listed.

Voice of America: Whether involved or not, however, it certainly depends on other elements, including the international community, and you are making such efforts. In this regard whenever these disturbing issues are mentioned, one of the needs that is always mentioned is that of co-ordination with Kosovo and Albania. How do you see this at this moment?

Arifi pronunciation: Once again I want to stress, a Kosovo as strong as possible in the international arena is a guarantee for a Presevo Valley as protected under Serbia's administration. At the moment, there's a paradox going on because Serbia is in some form a victim in the international arena, which is strange, and it's a state that's appearing to be the most democratic state. Kosovo is the most democratic country in the region, perhaps even in Europe. For us it is very important, for those of us who are at risk of becoming the second Chamber, like the Presevo Valley that we are in this position, we are at risk of becoming second, and it is very important that Kosovo and its government be first of all attentive in the Presevo Valley, to reduce Presevo Valley, because Serbs in northern Kosovo are factored because Belgrade has reduced them, it has not contributed to anyone else. No one's factored us, so maybe I get misunderstood sometimes, but I'm trying to explain that my criticism is interesting and constructive to Pristina. Criticism against Serbia will not stop because we are internal critics, we continue to criticise, but once again I say criticism goes with power and we have no power to change Belgrade and not expect it.

Voice of America: In brief on a practical issue such as recognition of diplomas, has there been progress in this regard?

Arifi pronunciation: Not at all, Serbia has no interest in this issue. There's a huge brain attack on us because our young people are coming with bachelor diplomas, masters and doctors to the Presevo Valley who are not accepted and end up as waitresses or mere employees in Presevo Valleys, so they don't find themselves and then run to Europe or America, wherever they are. Here again, there are responsibilities both Pristina and Tirana because it will be able to work in a way of harmonising diplomas, balancing Kosovo's diploma in Tirana, which is then accepted in Serbia, nor have they. It means we're discriminated against, we're unvisited, we're humiliated, we're the second class of society in Serbia, Serbia, and that doesn't change, but we're neglected and completely forgotten by our brothers and sisters in Pristina and Tirana. Here is our position in the Presevo Valley, but at the same time our responsibility is increased especially in Pristina to be much closer to us, to be much more constructive with us and to be the ones who rescue us from Belgrade's grip.