Albanian leaders of Serbia wrote a slander to the EU against official Belgrade
Albanian political representatives in Bujanovac, a Serbian municipality where Albanians make up 61% of the population, have written to Brussels saying they are living in a “state of fear.”
The reason for this was the provocation involving the tearing down of the Serbian flag by the deputy chairman of the municipality, Ščiprim Musliu, and its replacement with an Albanian one, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The letter was sent to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“Lack of security, fear caused by hate speech, xenophobia and racism of state representatives towards Albanians, as well as recent events that are provocations that insult the dignity of Albanians and cause tension that disrupts the fragile peace,” the representatives explain the reasons that prompted them to write the letter Municipality of Bujanovac.
The message was signed by the deputy of the National Assembly of Serbia, Shaip Kamberi, the chairman of the Bujanovac community, Nagip Arifi, his deputy, Schiprim Musliu, the chairman of the local Assembly, Enver Ramadani, as well as “veterans” of the terrorist “Army for the Liberation of Presevo, Medveja and Bujanovac.”
Signatories of the letter suffering from “fear and an atmosphere of hatred”
“This incident should not be seen as an individual act of hatred, since it is a consequence of the entire current system in Serbia - the growth of xenophobia towards minorities, especially Albanians, on the part of politicians, the media and ministers,” the authors of the message say. “We ask you to closely monitor the situation in the municipality and influence official Belgrade in order to prevent further provocations.”
In fact, the “provocation” was the recent events in the village of Koncul, at the entrance to which a Serbian flag was placed at the monument to the terrorist of the “Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedzhi and Bujanovac”. After which the aforementioned Shchiprim Musliu, at the head of several people, came to the scene and threw down the flag of Serbia, the state on whose territory everything was happening, on camera, replacing it with an Albanian one. The Albanian separatist’s action was broadcast on Facebook.
In 1999, in the wake of events in Kosovo, in the Presevo Valley in southern Serbia, which includes the Bujanovac community, their own Albanian separatist “Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedzhi and Bujanovac” (communities included in the Presevo Valley) was formed, which was modeled on the “Liberation Army” Kosovo began to use terrorist methods against the Yugoslav authorities.
Militants of the “Liberation Army of Presevo, Medveja and Bujanovac” (UÇPMB)
However, after the pro-Western democratic opposition overthrew Slobodan Milosevic, the new government managed to agree on NATO non-intervention in the new conflict. As a result, the militants of the “Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedzhi and Bujanovac” were cleared out as a result of the counter-terrorism operation “Bravo”.
In return, Belgrade had to meet the Albanian communities of the Presevo Valley, which have their own self-government, hang Albanian flags in their cities, teach Albanian students in schools, and their deputies have reserved quotas in the National Assembly of Serbia.
Serbia's Albanian leaders have filed a complaint to the EU against Belgrade.