THERE HAS BEEN NO MENTION OF THE EXCHANGE OF TERRITORIES BETWEEN SERBIA AND KOSOVO

24. December 2018.

Belgrade - Zoran Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, granted an interview to the "Danas" daily on the occasion of 18 years of operation of that body.

“I think that the relations between the Serbs and Albanians are correct and that there are no inter-ethnic tensions and conflicts, that they live next to one other, as they have lived so far, so that we can be satisfied, " Mr. Stankovic said.

When asked about the relations between the Serbs and Albanians today, Mr. Stankovic said that18 years of the existence and operation of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja had been marked the week before.

“The anniversary was marked by a children’s performance. The Albanian, Serbian and Roma children were present, while the room was full. Presented in the performance were the main problems of the municipality of Bujanovac, which include the issue of garbage, the putting up of traffic lights and the construction of a sports hall. The event was attended by all representatives of the local political structures and local self-governments from Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, as well as by the leading businessmen. The functional purpose of the Coordination Body is to achieve peace and it has not been disturbed in any way, " Mr. Stanković pointed out.

Asked how he perceived the future of the Serbian-Albanian relations in those three municipalities, because the exchange of territory between Serbia and Kosovo was often mentioned in political discussions, Mr. Stankovic said:

“The exchange of territory and the unification of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja with Kosovo and Metohija is something that was mentioned in the positions of some Albanian leaders from Kosovo and Metohija, above all, Hasim Thaci spoke about the issue. But nowhere officially, as well as during talks with the international community, has the issue of the exchange of territories been mentioned, and nowhere is the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia in the area of these three municipalities questioned, and I hope that no one will raise the issue in the forthcoming period, either. This is proved by our talks with the international community, the viewpoint of which is which is that there are no changes regarding that topic. It is also proved by the fact that in the talks between the government of Albania and the so-called Kosovo, no one mentioned these three municipalities. Mr. Taci claimed that that that would be the subject of talks in Brussels. So far, no one has mentioned that those three municipalities will be included in the Brussels negotiations, let alone talked about. I think that the situation has matured, and we only we have to understand it, that the future of people from that region is relying on the Republic of Serbia and that they need to work together and cooperate and that that will bring them the improvement that everyone wants so much."

The remaining part of the interview that Zoran Stankovic granted to the “Danas” daily is available on

https://www.danas.rs/drustvo/nigde-nije-pominjana-razmena-teritorija-izmedju-srbije-i-kosova/

Source: “Danas” daily and Coordination Body