PREPARATION OF THE CATALOG OF ALBANIAN NAMES TO BEGIN

20. May 2019.

Belgrade – Branko Ruzic, the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, spoke with Andrea Orizio, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, on the exercising of the right to official use of the Albanian language and script or on the use of personal names of members of the Albanian national minority.

Thanks to the support of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the Coordination Body and the National Council of the Albanian National Minority, the preparation of the Catalog of Albanian Names will begin, which will enable the registrars in Serbia to enter the names of members of the Albanian national minority into the registries absolutely precisely and accurately, it was stated by the line Ministry.

"This job is extremely important for our citizens who are members of the Albanian minority and for the exercising of all their rights," Minister Ruzic said.

He said that they would be working on listing all the names from the registers of Leskovac, Nis, Vranje, Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja and their transcription into the Serbian language and script until September 3, 2019.

The Minister pointed out that the Albanians had faced problems in the exercising of specific rights if their personal names were transcribed differently in various documents.

“The catalog will also help with the registration of newborn babies and the provision of basic documentation through the project “Welcome to the World, Baby", Minister Ruzic said.

Ambassador Orizio pointed out that the OSCE Mission to Serbia would continue to support the activities that were aimed at providing greater opportunities for the exercising of the rights of members of all national minorities in Serbia.

“I believe that we can jointly carry out this complex job in an appropriate manner and provide an instrument for the exercising of human rights, "the Ambassador said.

The meeting was attended by Danijela Nenadic, the Director of the Coordination Body’s Office for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, as well as by representatives of the towns of Leskovac, Nis and Vranje and the municipalities of Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja.

Source: Radio and Television of Serbia and Coordination Body