CATALOG OF ALBANIAN NAMES FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND COMMUNICATION

11. December 2019.

Bujanovac – A catalog of the most common Albanian names was presented in Bujanovac, which will make it possible for registrars to enter the names of Albanian national minorities correctly and accurately. Other public offices will also be able to use the catalog.

It was stated at the presentation of the catalog at the Subotica Faculty of Economics’ Department in Bujanovac that the catalog contained transcription of Albanian names in Serbian and Cyrillic script, as well as that it was of an open type, or that it would be supplemented in the future.

The need for the catalog emerged because the Albanians had trouble exercising specific rights whenever their personal names were transcribed differently in the documents.

The catalog, which was developed in cooperation with the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, the National Council of Albanians and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, will be used when entering the names of newborns into hospital books in Vranje, Leskovac and Nis, as well as wherever it is needed.

“The catalog is the joint success of all of us and its development resulted from the Protector of Citizens’ recommendation. This was the need of the Albanian national minority, local self-governments and public offices, first of all of the birth certificate office, but also of all other bodies which will now be able to enter names into records in an easier manner, ”said Ivan Bosnjak, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government.

State Secretary Bosniak also said that the state thus showed how it should be communicated with national minorities.

Saip Kamberi, the Mayor of Bujanovac, said that the development of the catalog was a positive step towards better communication.

„There is a need to resolve the problem of registering as voters and obtaining personal documents from the police, and this catalog is just one step in exercising the right to use of the language and script of the Albanian minority officially, ” Mr. Kamberi said.

Joseph Mellott, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, said that the OSCE Mission to Serbia would continue to support the activities aimed at exercising the rights of persons belonging to all national minorities in Serbia.

“The job is not completed by developing the catalog. The services should be encouraged to use it and members of the Albanian community should be informed that it exists and that it will make it easier for them to exercise their rights, ” Mr. Melot said.

Zoran Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, voiced hope that other problems, too, would be solved in that fashion, while Ragmi Mustafa, the President of the National Council of Albanians, said that "this is a small but very significant step for the affirmation of the rights of the Albanian minority."

The Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government will distribute the catalog to the offices across the country by the end of the year, while the OSCE Mission to Serbia will be in charge of printing it.

Source: Bujanovac News and Coordination Body