US congressmen visit Presevo amid concerns about Albanian rights in Serbia

The visit to this town in southern Serbia, inhabited by Albanian majority, comes after, earlier this year, the Foreign Policy Committee of the Chamber of Congress adopted a bill, urging the American Secretary of State to prepare a comprehensive report on the position of minorities in Serbia, with particular focus among Albanians in the Presevo Valley.

The bill, initiated by Congresswoman Keith Self, envisions reviewing several issues related to the Albanian minority in Serbia, including the failure of addresses, respectively to eliminate citizens from the addresses they are registered with.

It also deals with restrictions on using Albanian in public institutions, not knowing diplomas from Kosovo, and lack of textbooks in Albanian.

These issues have also been mentioned in the report of the US State Department for Human Rights in Serbia for 2023.

Presevo Mayor Ardita Sinani, in a campaign for Radio Free Europe, praised the visit of American congressers as an important signal of international attention to the position of Albanians in the Presevo Valley.

A day earlier, they stayed in Belgrade, where they met with Serbian Foreign Affairs Ministry State Secretary Nevena Jovanovic.

According to this ministry's announcement, bilateral relations between Serbia and the US, as well as the position of the Serb community in Kosovo, were discussed at the meeting.

Likewise, a meeting was scheduled with Serbia's Parliament Speaker Anna Brnabiq, but he was cancelled.

On 24 May, American congressers also visited Sarajevo, where they stressed their commitment to the Dayton Peace Agreement and the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

They are expected to continue their tour of the Balkans on a visit to Kosovo as well.