MINISTER MILAN MARKOVIC, PRESIDENT OF THE COORDINATION BODY, MET WITH GALIP BECIRI, PRESIDENT OF THE ALBANIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL

14. July 2010.

On Tuesday, July 13, 2010, Minister Milan Markovic, President of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, paid a visit to Presevo and Bujanovac, where he talked with Galip Beciri, President of the Albanian National Council, about the planned activities of and cooperation between the Albanian National Council and the Cooperation Body. Minister Markovic said that each and every meeting with representatives of the Albanians is an important step towards improving the position of Albanians in South Serbia, and he pointed out that education was one of the greatest problems faced by all sides.

Galip Beciri, the elected President of the Albanian National Council, said that Albanians in South Serbia were unsatisfied with the way they were treated by the official Belgrade, and added that he hoped that the state of affairs in four fields, for which the Council was primarily responsible, would soon improve.

„The four spheres that we should be dealing with are education, information, culture and the language. Out of those fields, we shall be working the most in the field of education. We have the problem of unrecognized Kosovo university degrees in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja. Another problem of ours is the opening of faculties in these municipalities. This means that education is our priority, which is followed by information and culture”, Mr. Beciri said.

„We want Albanians to have everything that is guaranteed by the Constitution and laws, as well as the same living conditions as everyone else. I hope this is the beginning of a successful cooperation and that we shall have concrete results regarding the accomplishment of goals of the Coordination Body and tasks of the Albanian National Council as early as this September or October, when we meet again. The Coordination Body, along with the OSCE, prepared a feasibility study on higher learning in Presevo and Bujanovac. A working group will be set up within a month and we expect that we should begin to work on the matter by this September, so that such institutions could be opened within a reasonable period of time”, Minister Markovic said.

President of the Coordination Body said that problems in Bujanovac had to do not only with integration of Albanians in the governmental institutions, but also with the Bujanovac political image and integration of members of the Serbian community in local structures. In connection with education, he also said that the issue of education inspectors and advisors should be solved in the course of this autumn. Minister Markovic also stated that the opening of institutions of higher learning would make it possible for persons to study in their own language for the professions needed for development of the community.
Mr. Beciri, President of the Albanian National Council, emphasized that the state of affairs in education was difficult, as well as that Minister Markovic had provided support and promised assistance with resolving those issues in the forthcoming period.

Following the meeting held with Galip Beciri, President of the Albanian National Council, and with Saip Kamberi, President of the Municipality of Bujanovac, President of the Coordination Body talked with businessmen from Bujanovac, who informed him of their problems with carrying out business operations. Minister Markovic said that the Coordination Body, in accordance with its competencies and abilities, would help them out with overcoming the obstacles that hinder a smooth performance of their business operations.