Political representatives of Presevo Valley Albanians are lobbying the United States to put the issue of municipalities in southern Serbia, Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac on the United Nations agenda.

This was confirmed for Radio Free Europe by Ragmi Mustafi, chairman of the Albanian National Council.

Earlier, a local media in Bujanovac reported that representatives of Albanians from Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac met in New York with Albania's ambassador to the UN, Ferit Hoxha, and after this meeting it was said that the issue of the Presevo Valley would be addressed. at the UN.

On June 1, Albania took over the one-month chairmanship of the UN Security Council for the first time.

The President of the Albanian National, Ragmi Mustafi, said that the representatives of the Albanian community living in the south of Serbia, are demanding that in the framework of the dialogue for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, the problem of the Presevo Valley be solved.

"What is required is that there be no normalization of relations until the Valley is on the agenda of solving problems in the Western Balkans," Mustafi said, adding:

"This means that in addition to resolving the issue of national minorities in the Western Balkans through the normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade, there should be uniform standards for the treatment of national minorities."

The media in Bujanovac report that the mayor of Bujanovac, Nagip Arifi, the leader of the Party for Democratic Action, the official of this party, Ardita Sinani, and the chairman of the Democratic Party of Albanians, Ragmi Mustafa, have traveled to the UN headquarters that located in New York.

After meeting with Ambassador Hoxha on Sunday, Arifi said that they had informed the Albanian ambassador about "the political situation in the Valley and the problems that Albanians face in Serbia."

On June 5, Ardita Sinani posted on Facebook photos of the delegation of political representatives of the Albanians of the Valley in the meeting with the Albanian ambassador to the UN, Ferit Hoxha, adding that "the issue of the Presevo Valley will now be raised at the UN."

"The inclusion of the Presevo Valley in the most comprehensive international organization is extremely important to reveal the truth of the situation and position of the Albanians of the Presevo Valley," she said.


From Bujanovac it is emphasized that the delegation from the municipalities in the south of Serbia will have meetings with the representatives of the American administration and the Albanian diaspora.

This is not the first time that representatives of Albanians in the three municipalities in southern Serbia, known as the Presevo Valley, demand that the status of the Albanian national minority in Serbia be included in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

In July 2018, the representatives of the Albanians of the Valley adopted a statement through which they asked the officials of Serbia, Kosovo and the European Union to be included in the negotiation process, but also in the final document of the Brussels agreement, the status of the Albanians of the Valley. of Presevo.

However, Serbian officials say that issues of local self-government in municipalities in southern Serbia cannot be addressed in the context of the Brussels negotiations.

Since 2011, Kosovo and Serbia have started the dialogue process for the normalization of relations, mediated by the EU.

Currently, the bearers of dialogue at the political level are the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vuiqi., While discussions are also taking place on technical issues at the level of chief negotiators.

Otherwise, for years the political representatives of the Albanians in the Presevo Valley have demanded more rights, as they have denounced many violations.

The latest case is the passivity of the addresses of Albanians in the Valley, which according to Albanian politicians is being done to change the "ethnic structure" of these municipalities./REL