January 29, 2010

29. January 2010.

As part of a six-month project “Kosovo is on the Other Side – How to Proceed After the Conflict”, the Center for Democracy and Development of South Serbia and the “JUGpress” regional information agency organized in Bujanovac the fourth in a row meeting. The main topic discussed at the meeting was the importance of participation of ethnic minorities in the institutions and the exercising of their rights in the region. Speakers at the meeting, among others, included Ron van Dartel, the Dutch Ambassador to Serbia, who asked Albanians from Bujanovac to get engaged in establishment of the Albanian National Council through direct elections. The Ambassador, among other things, said that the Albanian National Council would make it possible for Albanians to better cooperate with the Coordination Body for South Serbia and the Belgrade-based authorities.

“Holland is involved in several projects in South Serbia. We will become even more involved when we realize that the projects implemented there are those that contribute to a greater cooperation, particularly to the one among different ethnic communities and in various fields, since we noticed that Serbia is developing. We are also interested in the development of South Serbia within Serbia, including cooperation at all levels“, Mr. van Dartel said.

The Dutch Ambassador also said that he had talked in Bujanovac with Saip Kamberi, the president of the municipality of Bujanovac, about the establishment of a multiethnic local self-government.

„We are all of the view that both Serbs and Albanians should be represented at the local and republican levels and we, therefore, support the participation of Serbs in the local self-government”, said Ambassador van Dartel.