The Albanians of the Valley protest for "identity and dignity"

Albanian residents from the Preševo ​​Valley in the south of Serbia protested on Monday for "identity and dignity", accusing the Serbian Government of discrimination against them.

They protested in Bujanoc holding in their hands Albanian and American national flags, as well as banners with inscriptions such as: "Stop selective passivism", "Opressed yes, subjugated no" and "return the address", as well as wearing jerseys with the inscription "For identity and dignity".

The representative of the Albanian community in the south of Serbia, Shaip Kamberi, accused the Serbian Government of denying the rights of the Albanian minority, saying that it "does not want their integration into state bodies in a fair and equal way".

The protest was called on Saturday by the head of the Albanian National Council, Nevzad Lutfiu, through a post on Facebook, under the slogan "For identity and dignity".

According to the latest population census, Albanians are the fourth largest minority in Serbia, namely 61,687 Albanians live in this country.

"Belgrade continues with the old adage, to treat Albanians as enemies, as a second-rate people who do not deserve institutional participation. It has continued with discrimination by not recognizing diplomas, and with non-integration and passivation (of addresses)", said Kamberi.

Kamberi, who won another mandate in the Serbian Parliament in the December 17 Serbian elections, called on the international community to put pressure on Serbia to, as he said, stop discrimination against Albanians in the Valley.

"I invite the Government to urgently and unconditionally start the realization of the obligations obtained from the signed agreements, above all I invite the international community to react as soon as possible to stop apartheid and classic discrimination, because since the Consular Agreement 2001 until in the 2013 7-point plan, we had faith not in Belgrade, but in Western democratic values", said Kamberi.

The Council's agreement was reached in 2001 for the demilitarization of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvegja and Bujanovac (UÇPMB) and for the integration of the Albanian minority through a democratic process.

In July 2013, the Government of President Aleksandar Vučić approved the seven-point plan, which was almost the same as the previous agreements.

Kamberi left open the possibility of further protests after that.

In the square where the protest was held, on Monday, a large number of policemen in uniforms and civilian clothes were seen. No incident was reported during the protest.

The representatives of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac – municipalities also known as the Preševo ​​Valley – have often complained of being discriminated against by the authorities in Serbia.

Late last year, they complained about an increase in the number of deactivations of their addresses by Serbian police, accusing them of illegally deleting them to deny them basic rights.

The problem of deactivating addresses is mentioned in the European Commission's report on Serbia in 2022, in the part that deals with respecting the rights of minorities.

Serbia and Kosovo have several times reached agreements on the mutual recognition of university diplomas, while in 2020 they reiterated their commitment to the recognition of professional diplomas and certificates, but so far no steps have been taken to implement them./ REL