Albanians in the Presheva Valley, Oppressed by Serbia

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The process of integrating Albanians in Serbia, an agreement reached between the European Union and official Belgrade, which began in 2001, is facing significant challenges, especially in the last decade with the rise to power of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

Belgzim Kamberi, Chairman of the Council for Human Rights in the Presheva Valley, emphasized in an interview with Ekonomia Online that the main obstacles are state-sponsored discrimination against Albanians in the region, as well as the lack of economic development.

Kamberi stated that the integration of Albanians in the Presheva Valley has also been sidelined by the international community, as reported by Klankosova.tv.

He highlighted two primary issues that have hindered integration. First, he mentioned the lack of Albanian representation in state institutions outside of the municipal competencies of the Presheva Valley municipalities, where Albanians form the majority. Second, he pointed out the economic development of other municipalities in Serbia, while the Albanian-majority municipalities remain the most underdeveloped in the country.

“The process of integrating Albanians into Serbia, which formally began in 2001 after the armed conflict of the Liberation Army for Presheva, Bujanovc, and Medvegja, has stalled, particularly in the last decade with the coming to power of President Aleksandar Vučić. Despite some initial achievements in this process, such as the integration of Albanians who gained power in Bujanovc Municipality and their integration into the local police, there has been a serious stagnation in the last ten years in the integration process of Albanians and the dialogue process that still officially exists between Albanians in the Presheva Valley and Belgrade. The two main issues are: first, the lack of Albanian representation in public institutions that are outside the municipalities’ competencies. Even today, in Presheva, Bujanovc, and Medvegja, there are institutions with no Albanians employed, even though they are the majority. The second issue is stagnation in economic development and employment. Presheva, Bujanovc, and Medvegja remain some of the most underdeveloped municipalities in Serbia. Figures show that the Albanian community is the most unemployed and has limited access to employment. These are two major problems of state-sponsored discrimination,” he said.

Kamberi called for more serious engagement from the governments of Kosovo and Albania, emphasizing the need for a more consensual and dynamic approach.

He suggested that Prishtina and Tirana should exert pressure on international mediators, such as the European Union and the United States, to increase pressure on Belgrade to implement agreements, thus ending the discrimination of Albanians in Serbia.

“Kosovo’s successive governments could have been more dynamic diplomatically and in terms of using their influence with the EU and the U.S. to increase pressure on Belgrade to implement the agreements in the Preševo Valley. This is an issue with non-implementation of agreements and non-fulfillment of commitments by official Belgrade. Although difficult, Kosovo’s governments could have used this in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to increase pressure on Belgrade to integrate Albanians into Serbia. There needs to be increased diplomatic pressure, as there can be no normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia unless the position of Albanians in the Presheva Valley improves. This government has done something positive by budgeting for the Presheva Valley issue, but on the other hand, this policy has not been enough to improve the position of Albanians,” Kamberi said.

“Albanians in the Presheva Valley would need a more serious approach from both the governments in Tirana and Pristina, with a more consensual approach that would see how to influence the implementation of agreements. The current problem is that the implementation of agreements is no longer an issue, neither for the international factor nor for official Belgrade, which is not expected to implement agreements and obligations it has toward Albanians in the Presheva Valley.”

He also criticized the approach of the international community, pointing out that the democratization of Serbia and the rights of minorities have been sidelined due to geopolitical priorities and security issues.

Kamberi called for a balanced international approach, emphasizing that equal attention should be given to both the issue of Serbs in Kosovo and the integration of Albanians in Serbia. Without this engagement, he warned, the moment for Albanians in the Presheva Valley is being lost, leaving them to face discrimination and lack of development.

“I think that for some time, the international community has sidelined the issue of democratization in Serbia, which is linked to the issue of the rights of minorities or minorities in Serbia. They have had other priorities related to geopolitics and security, and in a way, they have tolerated a government that does not give much importance to human rights and democracy, such as the government of Aleksandar Vučić. In this regard, I believe that the international community has prioritized the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and the results in the Brussels dialogue,” Kamberi said.

He sees it as essential to return to the right track, with a focus on achieving results in the process of normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia and also returning to the issue of integrating Serbs in Kosovo. However, he argued that this should also involve a shared dynamic for the integration of Albanians in Serbia.

“The international community, as it has shown, is not ready for reciprocity. It has not shown a willingness to have equal status for Serbs in Kosovo and Albanians in Serbia because Kosovo is under the Ahtisaari Plan. The international community, just as it has a dynamic for integrating Serbs in Kosovo, should also have the same dynamic and attention for integrating Albanians in Serbia. It seems that the attention is not the same, and it seems that the moment has been lost for Albanians in the Presheva Valley, with attention much more focused on the integration of Serbs from Kosovo,” he said.

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