SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER ALEKSANDAR VUCIC REPLIES TO THE QUESTION POSED BY MP SAIP KAMBERI

1. August 2014.

Belgrade - Responding to a question of a representative of the Albanian minority in the Serbian parliament Saip Kamberi relating to when the students from the first to the fourth grade of primary school in that community would receive free textbooks in Albanian, the Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that the textbooks would reach them by September 1:

“You're absolutely right, since such problems existed in the past, too. There are also problems with textbooks in the Bulgarian and Croatian languages and we shall do our best to resolve them before September 1. The state shall meet all of its obligations towards all of its citizens, but we expect that you yourself and everyone else in Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja fulfill your obligations towards the state and begin paying your bills regularly, as Serbia has the right to collect what belongs to it“, said Prime Minister Vucic.

“Please ask the voters to receive from the government the textbooks in the Albanian language, which shall be provided to them. We aren’t doing that because of Europe but because we respect all our citizens", said Primed Minister Vucic and added “you don’t have to like Serbia, but please respect it and start meeting your obligations towards it”.

On Kamberi’s remark that he didn’t know that there was anything in any Serbian government’s documents, the Constitution, the laws and international conventions whereby minority rights were dependent on the payment of electricity bills, Prime Minister Vucic reiterated that the problems with the textbooks would be resolved by the beginning of next school year.

“And you should make efforts to settle your electricity bills”, said Prime Minister Vucic.

Prime Minister Vucic announced that “all those who have money and yet don’t pay their electricity bills will bear the consequences for it now”, so that, as he said, it wouldn’t be right for you (Albanians) not to pay your electricity bills for years”.

Source: Jugpress and Coordination Body