It was held in Bujanovac on August 12 protest of Albanians under the title "For identity and dignity". Protest walk will continue on September 23 in Preševo.
Shaip Kamberi, Member of Parliament from Bujanovac and head of the Party for Democratic Action (PDD), said that Albanian protests against discrimination, oppression and violence continue, because solving the problem can no longer be postponed, they report Bujanovac.
The main request sent from the protest concerns the stopping of the passivization of Albanian citizens' residences, the recognition of diplomas from universities in Kosovo, textbooks in the mother tongue for high school students, greater presence of Albanians in state institutions and public state enterprises, as well as greater attention of the international community was requested.
What happened on August 12?
"Stop passivization", "We want textbooks in Albanian" - these were the banners at the August 12 protest in Bijanovac. At the protest, they asked the international community to put pressure on Serbia in order to fulfill the demands of the Albanians.
Kamberi protested that Belgrade was playing with double standards - "without symmetry in rights, there is no stability." Some European centers, unfortunately, are looking down on Serbia".
The President of the National Council of Albanians, Nevzad Lutfiu, said at the gathering that Albanians are the most discriminated community in Europe.
"Of the 24 national minorities in Serbia, the Albanian is in the worst position." We will not remain silent, the protests will continue, not because we want to, but because we have no other choice," said Lutfiu at the time.
He added that their diplomas are not recognized in Serbia, but are recognized in Germany.
"The state invests millions of euros in Serbian schools, not a cent in ours. Our population is shrinking, young people are leaving. Their addresses are being deactivated. This has to stop," said Lutfiu.
At the end of the meeting, a declaration was read demanding the authorities in Belgrade to implement and respect the three agreements signed so far between the Government of Serbia and representatives of the Albanians.
The other side of the board
The coordinating body of the Government of Serbia for the municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa announced that the protest in Bujanovac held on August 12 "represents the abuse of Albanians from the south of Serbia with the aim of causing new tensions and destabilizing the region."
The protest of the Albanians in Serbia is happening in the midst of the crisis in Kosovo, when the Kosovo police raided the last Serbian institutions that the Serbs in Kosovo have been blocking for days. Additionally, in a situation where civil protest is also impossible in the north of Kosovo. Namely, four young men of Serbian nationality were arrested for allegedly attacking and cursing the Kosovo police, as well as representatives of the Serbian Democracy party for blowing the whistle.
It is interesting that this type of political struggle, blowing the whistle, as an oppositionist in The Assembly of Kosovo was used by Aljbin Kurti. True, he went one step further by throwing tear gas into a full assembly hall. It didn't keep him in prison, but it helped him come to power.
Thus, Serbs from the north of Kosovo are now left in an institutional vacuum.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, needed 15 days to decide to address the public on this issue.
So, in his address on Friday, he said: "There is no miracle worker who can bring the Serbs a good solution for Kosovo and Metohija, and whatever we proposed, in the end, everyone would be against it." And so, for the umpteenth time, he became a victim.
Vučić added that Kosovo is the most expensive and traitor is the cheapest Serbian word and added that he said that "because we were never fair and honest with ourselves when we talked about Kosovo and Metohija".
