The mayor of Preševo, Ardita Sinani, has described the deactivation of residential addresses as one of the most serious institutional injustices facing Albanians in the Preševo Valley, stressing that the issue has been raised for years at political and diplomatic levels internationally.
Sinani said the practice is neither an isolated issue nor a political slogan, but a longstanding problem that has repeatedly been discussed with representatives of local and international institutions.
According to Sinani, the issue has been raised with representatives of the United States, the European Union, the OSCE, the United Nations, the Council of Europe and UNHCR, as well as with numerous ambassadors and diplomats.
She also said the matter had been discussed with U.S. Congressmen Keith Self and Suhas Subramanyam, Albanian President Bajram Begaj, senior officials from Kosovo and Albania, and other European and international partners.
“Address deactivation has been brought out of silence and turned into a political and international issue. Today, it is discussed in reports, resolutions, diplomatic meetings and international institutions,” Sinani said.
She described the campaign as sustained, documented and politically consistent, arguing that protecting the right to an address, identity and belonging represents a political and institutional responsibility.
“This struggle will continue until the deactivation of addresses is completely stopped and every right denied to the Albanians of the Preševo Valley is restored,” Sinani said.
Sinani also published photographs from a number of institutional meetings and engagements where the issue of address deactivation was discussed, describing them as concrete evidence of continued efforts to internationalize the matter.
