MR. STANKOVIC: “ALBANIAN LEADERS FROM SOUTH SERBIA TO MEET WITH PRIME MINISTER DACIC BY JULY 15

10. June 2013.

Belgrade – Zoran Stankovic, President of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, said that Prime Minister Ivica Dacic would meet with the Albanian leaders from South Serbia by July 15, with whom he would discuss the resolution of priority issues defined in the Platform, which had been coordinated with the Albanians.

Mr. Stankovic said that based on the discussions that were held with representatives of the Albanians from Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, in the presence of the OSCE representatives, in January and February, the Serbian government, on June 4, adopted the platform, which has seven points. It refers to representation of the Albanians in state institutions, economic recovery of the three municipalities, the official use of the language, script and national symbols, decentralization in the field of judiciary, education, culture and the media, healthcare and social protection, as well as security and confidence-building measures in the area, said the Head of the Coordination Body.

Mr. Stankovic also said that by July 15, depending on Prime Minister Dacic’s obligations related to the implementation of the Brussels agreement, the Prime Minister, along with representatives of 13 Ministries, and in the presence of the OSCE representatives, would met with the Albanian leaders. The talks on resolving the stated issues should begin in September and they should last depending on how much time it is required for reaching specific solutions. It would take six months for the short-term ones, up to a year from the beginning of the talks for the mid-term ones and two or more years for the long-term ones. He also said that the previously assumed obligations, which had remained unrealized, would be fulfilled, too.

He said that both people in the power and the parties in opposition agreed on the issues to be discussed. Mr. Stankovic says that he doesn’t expect the destabilization of the region for several reasons.

"People are asking to have their basic life issues solved, and as for political issues, which are imposed or enforced for a variety of reasons, they are, now, far less of a problem for the people who live there", said Mr. Stankovic.

He said that the adoption of the resolution in Pristina on protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians from the Presevo Valley was a provocation that Belgrade didn’t want to respond to.

Source: “Tanjug” News Agency