The Council of Albanian Ambassadors has continuously drawn attention to the violation of human rights, in particular to their legitimate rights as a minority and the extremely difficult situation in which the Albanians are in the Presheva Valley in Serbia.
Finally, the Government of the Republic of Serbia, accordingly the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights of Serbia has reduced the budget for the Albanian National Council (KKSH) in the Presheva Valley for the year 2024 by more than 1 million dinars.
This decision, which makes it very difficult for the survival let alone the normal functioning of this very important institution for Albanians and the respect of their rights, is completely nonsense, therefore discriminatory and malicious.
The Albanian National Council for many years has operated with a reduced budget, due (according to the Serbian authorities) to the non-participation of the Albanians of the Valley in the 2011 census.
With this logic/reason/pretext, the budget for the Albanian National Council had to increase now, at least by 40% compared to the previous year, due to the population census that was done in 2022 and the participation of the Albanians of the Valley in this census.
This scandalous act, as the President of the Albanian National Council has rightly considered, is not the first and only act aimed at limiting/threatening the activity of the Council. Previously, other methods and forms were used.
The Council of Albanian Ambassadors assesses that in the conditions of a difficult economic situation, the lack of investments, and almost zero employment opportunities for Albanians in the state administration of Serbia, the absurd passivation of addresses that has resulted in the mass abandonment of Albanians from the Presheva Valley, which constituted alarm signals for everyone, including the international community. The well-deserved increase in the budget would be a minimally positive signal towards the Albanians of the Valley from the Government of Serbia.
The Council of Albanian Ambassadors stands by the Albanians in the Presheva Valley and calls on the governments of Albania and Kosova, but also the entire international factor, to exert constant pressure on the government of Serbia to respect the rights of the Albanian minority in Serbia, in the same standard wanted for Serbs in Kosova.
