"RIGHTS OF ALBANIANS AREN’T THREATENED”

11. March 2013.

Belgrade - Zoran Stankovic says for the “Politika” daily that South Serbia is an inseparable part of our country and that there is no comparison between the rights of Serbs in the northern Kosovo and those of Albanians in Serbia.

''From the political standpoint, there is a desire of a part of Albanians from South Serbia to permanently have the stability of that part of the country for a topic, and to always be dissatisfied with what has been done, " said Zoran Stankovic, President of the Coordination Body for Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.

But, when speaking from the position of ordinary people, except for politics, there is no room for the theories that nothing is inacceptable for Albanians.

Mr. Stankovic said that members of the Albanian community had all the rights that all other national minorities in Serbia had, and Albanians, in that sense, were equal citizens of the country.

He said that there were many open issues that should be addressed in the municipalities in southern Serbia and that the local population was troubled by unemployment and the difficult economic situation the most.

Over the past three years, Serbia invested in the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja 222 million dinars for the purpose of improving the quality of life of Serbs, Albanians, Roma and other citizens.

He said that almost all firms in South Serbia operated with losses, while the unemployment rate in Presevo was 56 percent, in Medvedja 46 percent and in Bujanovac 43 percent.

Source: Politika daily, Tanjug News Agency