Albanians in the Preševo Valley are being excluded from Serbian state institutions. None of them were accepted in the latest Serbian Police recruitment. In Preševo, Medveđa, and Bujanovac, Albanians are also not being accepted in other institutions as well.
The Chairman of the Albanian National Council, Enkel Rexhepi, says there should be reciprocity, just as it happens with Serbs in Kosovo.
“We are discriminated against every day. We have the latest figures showing that no Albanian police officer was accepted in the last competition announced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia. And this discrimination is a consequence of the daily discrimination we face. Out of 43 police officers accepted, none from Bujanovac or Preševo is employed, and among the 22 employed in Medveđa, no Albanian is hired. Although 11 Albanians competed in this competition announced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The approach of Minister Sveçla is to be commended because reciprocity should be used,” he declared.
Acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, also reacted to this, stating that Serbia is conducting ethnic cleansing.
“10% of the total Kosovo Police are from minority communities and over 50% of them come from the Serbian community. In the last three special recruitment processes for communities, 210 new members from this community were included. In the last police competition in Serbia, out of 43 accepted officers in Preševo and Bujanovac, none was Albanian. Similarly, among the 22 officers in Medveđa, none is Albanian. This demonstrates our approach for integration and cooperation with the Serbian community living in Kosovo, while Serbia increasingly reveals its discriminatory stance towards Albanians in the Preševo Valley, which fundamentally amounts to ethnic cleansing. This ethnic cleansing that Serbia is carrying out against Albanians living in the Preševo Valley, by systematically violating their fundamental rights, must be punished and stopped immediately by the international factor,” Sveçla wrote.
Discrimination against Albanians in the Valley is happening daily. Besides exclusion from public institution recruitment, large-scale removal of addresses is also taking place.
“We don’t yet have the exact number and the data is still being processed from the ground. However, it realistically exceeds 8,000 removals. People are being removed every day because every day about 10 are removed and after a month, only 2 are returned. This number is increasing, mostly ethnic cleansing has already happened in Medveđa. In Medveđa, complete ethnic cleansing has happened quietly, and now it has started also in Bujanovac and Preševo,” he stated.
Deputy Mayor of Preševo Municipality, Ragmi Mustafa, says Serbia aims to expel Albanians from their lands.
“To make Albanians feel insecure in their native land, to banish them. The program and plan active today is the same that was active during the 1990s. Absolutely, for over 100 years, there have always been pressures and injustices against Albanians both in Kosovo, Macedonia, and the Preševo Valley. Now the methods have changed — they do not use automatic rifles, armored vehicles, or tanks anymore; they use legal mechanisms that are completely unsupported even by their own constitution. Albanians in Preševo, Medveđa, and Bujanovac are mercilessly used to be banished from here. And these lands remain empty,” he said.
He calls on Kosovo’s local authorities to act in the same way Serbia acts against Albanians in the Preševo Valley.
“Institutions in Kosovo have the easiest job to act the same way Serbia acts toward Serbs in the Republic of Kosovo. The same measures should be taken for Albanians in the Preševo Valley. If Serbia demands something for Serbs in Kosovo, why shouldn’t Kosovo’s authorities — government, presidency, and parliament — demand the same for Albanians in the Preševo Valley? Without a doubt, what the Serbs in Belgrade ask for Serbs in Kosovo, Kosovo’s central authorities should demand the same for Albanians in the Preševo Valley. This would be the most effective political weapon, proportional to Serbia,” Mustafa concluded. The number of Albanian residents in Preševo makes up 93.7% of the population, in Bujanovac 62%, while in Medveđa there are around one thousand Albanians.
