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MR. STANKOVIC: NEW CENSUS TO BE CONDUCTED IN SOUTH SERBIA NEXT YEAR

9. December 2013.

It is realistic that a new census could be conducted in the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja next year, said Zoran Stankovic, President of the Coordination Body for the three municipalities. Since the budget for next year doesn’t include funds for the census, the money will be sought elsewhere, Mr. Stankovic said.

Zoran Stankovic, President of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, said that it was realistic that a  new census could be conducted in those municipalities next year.

"The plan is to carry out the census in accordance with the international criteria, to solve the problems within the framework of the Constitution and the international conventions, to make it possible for the census to begin in agreement with the local Albanians and in the presence of the international community, as a witness", Mr. Stankovic said for the RTS1 news program. 

He pointed out that the local governments had received the full amount of funds envisaged for the year and that adequate resources had been planned for the following year, as well as that the Albanians hadn’t been placed in an inferior position.  

Mr. Stankovic also said that an increase in funding for the local self-governments, which amounts to nine percent, had been envisaged.  

"Over the past 12 years, the Coordination Body allocated 70 million euros for Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja, while the international community provided the additional resources",  Mr. Stankovic said.  

He pointed out that the local self-governments were working normally in that period and that there were no problems with the operation of the local self-governments.  Mr. Stankovic said that ordinary people suffered because they weren’t dealing with the economic issues, but with the political ones.  

Speaking of the new network of courts, about which the Albanians from South Serbia were displeased, Mr. Stankovic said that those problems were solved without conducting the new census. According to him, the local self-governments had been given all the resources that had been set by the budget.  

Speaking of the discontinued talks that the Albanians from South Serbia had with representatives of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Stankovic said that he expected that they would soon be resumed. He stressed that 13 ministries and the most responsible people in them were involved in the talks. As an example, he mentioned the delegation of the Ministry of Health, which was led by Minister Slavica Djukic Dejanovic.  

“The talks are aimed at implementing everything that was negotiated about with the government over the past 12 years, so that the three municipalities could function as the other municipalities”, said Mr. Stankovic.  

He explained that the talks weren’t held with the Coordination Body, but with the Government of the Republic of Serbia and that the talks that the Albanians had had with Prime Minister Dacic and Aleksandar Vucic were held at their request.

Mr. Stankovic underlined that it was agreed that an analysis would be done on a quarterly basis to find out the issues from the agreement that were implemented.   

Source: РТС1 and Coordination Body