What is it like to be Albanian in Serbia?

Twice, in less than two months, Albanians of the Presevo Valley have raised their voices against discrimination they say they experience every day in Serbia.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq's response to their protests?

Nobody's beating them, not picking on them, or something. Serbia is a democratic state and we will continue to behave this way”.

More than 60,000 Albanians live in Serbia, who make up the fourth largest minority there, according to the latest population census in 2022.

In international reports, Presevo Valley ʹ term used for Presevo, Medvedja and Bujancin, Albanian majority municipality south of Serbia considered completely isolated and is said to receive attention only in election time, reports Radio Free Europe.

In Serbia's country, Albanians have only one voice: MP Shaip Kamberi.

Key Requests

In the protests, initially held in Bujanoc, and later in Presevo, a call was called for recognition of Kosovo diplomas, integration through Serbia's state institutions, allowing for the use of Albanian national symbols and for resolving the issue of passive display of addresses.

Assimilation means eliminating citizens from addresses where they've been registered. This step results in the loss of Serbian citizenship, and therefore all civil rights included the right to vote, property, health and pension insurance, and employment.

Posting the address is determined by law in Serbia since 2011. The law envisions institutions doing checks to determine whether a resident lives at the address listed.

If it proves that a resident does not live at that address, the decision is made to make his appearance, and the resident is obliged to register the new address within eight days after accepting the decision.

Although the law envisions the right to appeal, citizens have said that in some cases, they have not even been able to complain about the decision, since they have not been informed in time of their move.

The issue is also mentioned in the report of the US State Department for Human Rights in Serbia for 2023.

It has been said that the progression of addresses appears to have been carried out unproportionally towards Albanians, especially in Medvedja.

Decoration “bordering racism”

The head of the Albanian National Council ʹorgan representative of Albanians in Serbia has said following the September 23rd protest that discrimination of Albanians “has affected the borders of racism”.

According to Navzad Lutfiut, “there is no Albanian family, which has not been affected in any form of discrimination. Right is on our side, and we will not be silent until demands are realised”.

Dozens of Albanians of the Valley have been talking about Radio Free Europe over the lack of perspective in this region for years. Some of them are paid as if they had secondary schooling, since diplomas issued by Kosovo institutions have never been recognised.

The issue of diplomas is regulated with several agreements reached within the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels and with an agreement between Western Balkan countries at the summit within the Berlin Process. Kosovo has respected these agreements.

Free Europe Radio has spoken in the past with some Serbs who have been admitted to Kosovo diplomas issued by Serbia and who have managed to be employed.

Valley residents and municipal leaders there have several times demanded that there be presences of international mechanisms in order to monitor living conditions in that part.

They have accused representatives of the international factor in Belgrade of failing to respond to the treatment they receive.

Password of addresses, “ethnic cleansing form”

In the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights report in Serbia, 2021, Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac are described as hostages of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

According to the report, the question of defaulting address “is essentially the form of ethnic cleansing through administrative method”.

“Albanians have shown the desire for integration, but Belgrade has not shown political will. Although there is no tension among citizens, notes increasing distrust of the” institutions, it is mentioned among other things in the report.

Representatives of the Valley and the Serbian state have reached three agreements in 2001, 2007 and 2013 that envision the protection of rights and integration of the Albanian minority, but no movement has been made in their implementation.

In the European Union's Progress Report for Serbia, for 2023, it has been estimated that “with the full legal obligation to take into account the ethnic composition of the population, national minorities are still under-represented in state administration”.

The integration of Albanians into institutions is part of Serbia's obligations under negotiations for membership in the European Union.

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi has said after the protest held in August that Albanians are facing unacceptable situations, and that he remains committed to raising voices for their concerns.

In November 2023, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti had said that state aid to the Presevo Valley this year would be 3m euros -- a million more than in the pre-term period.

Days earlier, Presevo Mayor Ardita Sinani has thanked Kosovo Government for providing funds for the Albanian textbooks for 3,708 Albanian Valley students.

However, lack of investments and continuing barriers are believed to have affected the removal of about 20,000 Albanians from this region, mainly towards the state of Kosovo.