March 26, 2010

26. March 2010.

Dimitrios Kypreos, Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, stated that Serbia had made an “enormous progress in the course of 2009” and added that it achieved a “very important position in the region”.

He voiced hope that such “a rate of progress would continue in the future as well”. Mr. Kypreos is of the view that the establishment of National Councils is “one of the key issues” on Serbia’s path to Europe. Mr. Kypreos said that a “decision of the Albanian leaders from South Serbia to set up the Albanian National Council” showed that a “very important progress had been made”.

"We are at the point when we can without any doubt say that direct elections are going to be held. However, I have to stress that this wasn’t an easy process and that it was hard to accomplish it”, Mr. Kypreos said.

This is a major achievement that was realized thanks to a great deal of effort that had been put into it, Mr. Kypreos said. He pointed out that the “establishment of the National Council gives every citizen a possibility of having more impact on the country’s social and political life”.

"In that way, their voices would be louder and hence easier to be heard”, Mr. Kypreos said. He reiterated that “every citizen should be at the source of events, which is extremely important for their more active participation in the political life”.

According to Mr. Kypreos, “so far, the Albanian citizens have used only political parties or local self-governments as a means of communicating with the entire society and for expressing their will”.

Mr. Kypreos explained that National Minority Councils were actually an additional instrument and an institution providing them with a further possibility for expressing their political will and achieving some changes.

Every such additional possibility represents progress in any community, as well as new opportunities for a better life, Mr. Kyproes said.

Mr. Kypreos specified that the institution of the National Council ensures that all ethnic minorities have an instrument in their hands for solving the issues of their culture, education, use of the language and media issues, which are all important elements. He added that that’s how “it was absolutely clear that ethnic minorities may improve their position in society, promote the values that they hold and achieve something better by struggling for it”.