AMBASSADORS ASKED ALBANIANS FROM SOUTH SERBIA TO VOTE

26. April 2012.

Bujanovac- On Friday, April 29, 2012, Mary Warlick, the US Ambassador to Serbia, Dimitrios Kypreos, Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, and Vincent Degert, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, asked in Bujanovac the Albanians from South Serbia to vote in the parliamentary elections and to actively participate in Serbia’s governmental institutions.

During a meeting entitled "Participation Strengthens the Rights of Citizens”, which was, with the support of the British embassy in Serbia, organized in Bujanovac by the Centre for Democracy and Development of South Serbia and the Regional Information Agency “Jug Press”, they appealed to the local population not to return to the past, but to turn to the future.

Vincent Degert said that Serbia was "near the beginning of negotiations on the EU accession. On the road to the EU, Serbia is expected to go on with the dialogue and to implement the agreements reached with Pristina, to improve and promote the rule of law and to fight against corruption and organized crime", said Ambassador Degert.

He added that Serbia should fully conduct the process of restructuring its enterprises, as well as the process of a lawful privatization, and that it should provide conditions for the arrival of investors.

Mary Warlick said that by participating in the elections, the citizens would actually participate in democracy, and added that this "would have a significant impact on the arrival of investors in the region".

Ambassador Warlick emphasized the importance of a continuing dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, on the importance of normalization of trade ties and on implementation of the agreement on recognition of university diplomas.

Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Dimitrios Kypreos, said that he knew that the people in that part of the Balkans "spend too much time dealing with the past".

"It's a waste of our creative energy, and we should rather focus ourselves on the future, which is important for the new generations. If we were more involved in the future, we would much faster modernize the region”, Ambassador Kypreos said. He underscored the importance of establishing multiethnic governments in the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja after the local elections.

Ambassador Kypreos also emphasized that the opening of a department of the Subotica-based Faculty of Economics in Bujanovac was one of the important achievements in the process of providing equal opportunities to minorities.