The Albanian MP from Bujanovac in the Serbian Parliament, Shaip Kamberi, has submitted a draft resolution to this institution regarding the situation of Albanians in southern Serbia, and has proposed that this topic be part of the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade.
More than 60,000 Albanians live in Serbia, making up the fourth largest minority there, according to the last population census in 2022.
They live in the Presevo Valley - a term used for Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac.
Kamber's draft resolution demands that the Serbian Parliament "accept the discriminatory approach and express institutional commitment to improving the position of the Albanian community in the municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medvedja."
The document calls for the implementation of the agreements of 2001, 2009 and 2013, and for the immediate suspension of administrative measures for the deregistration of addresses.
Deregistration means erasing citizens from their registered addresses. This step results in the loss of Serbian citizenship, and consequently all civil rights – including the right to vote, own property, have health insurance and a pension, and be employed.
This issue was also mentioned in the US State Department's report on human rights in Serbia for 2023.
It stated that the passivation of addresses appears to have been carried out disproportionately against Albanians, especially in Medvedja.
In addition, among other problems of Albanians, the following were also mentioned: the non-recognition of diplomas issued by the Kosovo authorities, the lack of fair and proportional representation in state institutions, obstacles to the official use of the Albanian language and national symbols, as well as the lack of economic development in that region.
The draft resolution states that due to the lack of results from past institutional efforts, it is proposed that the status of Albanians in southern Serbia be included in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, "as part of comprehensive efforts to achieve lasting peace."
"The adoption of the resolution would be evidence of political readiness to resolve problems that have dragged on for decades and to guarantee equal access for all citizens, regardless of ethnicity - which is a basic condition for democratic development and progress towards the European Union," said Kamberi.
The draft resolution was signed by two other MPs from the Sandzak Party for Democratic Action.
The Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, has rejected Kamber's proposal, saying that the position of Albanians in southern Serbia is not, and will not be, part of the negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo.
"Attempts to misuse the dialogue with Pristina and to politically instrumentalize it by irresponsible politicians in central Serbia will not succeed," Petkovic said.
He claims that "Serbia is known as a country that has extraordinary cooperation with minorities and that is a model for everyone in the region."
Kosovo and Serbia have been negotiating in Brussels, with the mediation of the European Union, since 2011. The parties have reached several agreements, but not all of them have been implemented.
Currently, the dialogue is frozen due to the fact that Kosovo has a government in office with limited powers.
Representatives of Albanians from southern Serbia have often spoken out about the problems and said they are discriminated against, something Belgrade denies.
Kosovo authorities have reiterated several times that they are committed to addressing the concerns of the residents of the Presheva Valley, and have allocated millions of euros in aid to them.
However, the lack of investment and ongoing barriers are believed to have influenced the departure of around 20,000 Albanians from this region, mainly towards the state of Kosovo./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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