News archive
                   

MR. STANKOVIC: THE GREATEST PROBLEM IN PRESEVO, BUJANOVAC AND MEDVEDJA IS UNEMPLOYMENT

24. August 2018.

Belgrade – A session of the Presidency of the Coordination Body, the second held this year,  started at the Palace of Serbia.

Apart from Zoran Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body, Sima Gazikalovic, the Vice President of the Coordination Body, and Danijela Nenadic, the Director of of the Coordination Body’s Office, the session was attended by Saip Kamberi, the Mayor of Bujanovac, Nebojsa Arsic, the Mayor of Medvedja, the Presidents of the Municipal Assemblies of Bujanovac and Medvedja and MP Nenad Mitrovic.  

At the beginning of the session, representatives of the media were addressed by Mr. Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body, Mr. Kamberi, the Mayor of Bujanovac and Mr. Arsic, the Mayor of Medvedja.

When asked by a reporter why Sciprim Arifi, the Mayor of Presevo, was not attending the session, the President of the Coordinating Body said that Mr. Arifi did not come to the session of the Presidency “because he informed us that he had obligations in Tirana.”

"The session of the Presidency was originally scheduled for July 20 and Mr. Arifi asked us, then, to postpone it for his personal reasons, which we did.  However, it was not possible to do it today," Mr. Stankovic said.

Regarding his recent visit to Tirana and the meeting with Ditmir Busati,  the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Mr. Kamberi said that political representatives of the Albanians from the three municipalities sought greater engagement of Tirana in the matter of the rights of Albanians.

“We were reassured that the Government of Albania would, through the existing mechanisms, advocate for the rights of Albanians. Also, the possibility for Albania to set up the Fund for the Three Municipalities should be considered, as well as for the interim institutions in Pristina to invest funds in it,” Mr. Kamberi pointed out. 

Mr. Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body, added that Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, said during his visit to the municipality of Presevo that the Albanians from those three municipalities were the citizens of Serbia and that their problems should be solved in the institutions of Serbia.

When Mr. Kamberi was asked by reporters whether he believed that the three municipalities in South Serbia should join Kosovo and Metohija, he said that political leaders of the Albanians advocated for viewing the three municipalities in their entirety, and not just Presevo, provided an agreement on the exchange of territories was reached. Mr. Kamberi said that the talks on the seven-points, which were discontinued, did not result in what the Albanians had expected and that they were not satisfied with their position. The Mayor of Bujanovac emphasized that integration was a problem that was unresolved, and that, for instance, the Albanians were not allowed to buy companies, highlighting the example of the Tobacco Industry of Bujanovac and arguing that the competition was canceled when an Albanian applied to purchase it, adding that the company in question was purchased by a company from Novi Sad.

Mr. Stankovic provided a specific answer to that question, pointing out that he had been reassured  that an exchange of territories would not occur. He said that he expected that the talks on 7 points on resolving the issues that the Albanians had emphasized as important, would resume in the fall.

"The Albanians from the three municipalities purchase property and companies without any problems whatsoever.The construction of the outpatient maternity ward in Presevo provided the conditions for employing people, as well as the awarding of grants to small and medium-sized enterprises. The goal is not to compete who is going to say what,  since the facts speak in favor of how much the government has invested in those municipalities so far. Of course, there is always room for improvement and we are working towards it, " Mr. Stankovic said.

Nebojsa Arsic, the Mayor of Medvedja, said that the citizens of that municipality would not agree to become part of Kosovo and Metohija, and that there had been no such initiatives until then.

"The municipality of Medvedja is a municipality in Serbia where Serbs and Albanians have good cooperation and we are a true example of a multiethnic society. We do and agree on things togehther,“ Mr. Arsic said.

Mr. Stankovic reiterated that the biggest problem in those three municipalities was unemployment and poor finacial position.

Source: Coordination Body