Petkovic: There can be no dialogue for Presevo and Bujanovac

2025-06-03 19:31:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, said on Tuesday that he has made it clear to the European Union that Presheva and Bujanovac cannot be a topic in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

"Presheva and Bujanovac are issues of central Serbia, of our laws and Constitution, and there can be no discussion of this within the framework of the dialogue - despite the efforts of [acting Kosovo Prime Minister Albin] Kurti and [acting Deputy Prime Minister Besnik] Bislimi to introduce these topics," Petkovic declared after his meeting in Brussels with the EU envoy for the dialogue, Peter Sorensen.

According to him, "it is known what the topics of the dialogue are - the Kosovo issue, the position of the Serbian people, the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, and what we can do to reach compromise solutions that would bring peace and stability to Kosovo."

The Presevo issue was mentioned by Bislimi the day before, after a meeting with Sorensen.

He said that Kosovo considers supporting Albanians in the Presheva Valley through assistance to small farmers a very important process.

More than 60,000 Albanians live in Serbia, making up the fourth largest minority there, according to the last population census in 2022.

In international reports, the Presevo Valley – a term used for Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, municipalities inhabited by an Albanian majority in southern Serbia – is considered completely isolated and is said to receive attention only during election times.

Albanians in Serbia complain that the authorities there do not recognize their Kosovo diplomats, they demand integration into Serbian state institutions, permission to use Albanian national symbols, and a resolution to the issue of the passivation of addresses.

Petkovic's meeting with Sorensen was held on Tuesday in Brussels, as part of preparations for the trilateral meeting within the framework of the dialogue, which is expected, as he said, to take place soon.

Petkovic said that the meeting with Sorensen also discussed the closure of Serbian institutions in the north by Kosovo authorities and the decisions of local authorities in the north, which he described as “anti-Serbian.” The issue of missing persons was also discussed, on which Petkovic said there has been progress.

He accused Kosovo institutions of "terrorizing and persecuting Serbian political representatives in Kosovo, especially the Serbian List."

According to him, the leader of the Serbian List - the largest Serb party in Kosovo - has received an invitation from the Kosovo Prosecutor's Office to appear on June 10, "likely for the protests and barricades of 2022."

The deputy chairman of this party, Igor Simi?, has also received a similar invitation, on suspicion of "some kind of terrorism".

Petkovic described this as a form of political pressure on Serb representatives in Kosovo./ REL