Bislimi: Serbia is trying to stop Kosovo's aid to Albanian farmers in the Valley

2024-12-10 19:14:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Bislimi: Serbia is trying to stop Kosovo's aid to Albanian farmers in the

Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, has accused Serbia of trying to stop the financial support of the Government of Kosovo for Albanian farmers in the Presheva Valley.

"The Government of the Republic of Kosovo strongly condemns the efforts of the Serbian authorities to stop the donation dedicated to subsidizing Albanian farmers in Presheva, Bujanoc and Medvegja," said Bislimi on Facebook.

Earlier on Tuesday, representatives of the Albanians of the Presevo Valley said that the Ministry for Human Rights and Minorities of Serbia has called for the cancellation of a competition for subsidizing agricultural crops from a fund of the Government of Kosovo.

The government of Kosovo allocated 1 million euros for subsidies in the agricultural sector for Albanians in Presheva, Bujanoc and Medvegja for the year 2024, the mayor of Presheva, Ardita Sinani, said in October.

Bislimi said that the donation of the Kosovo Government aimed to improve the life of the Albanian community and support economic development in the Presheva Valley, knowing that "even further, the municipalities of Presheva, Bujanovac and Medvegja are among the most underdeveloped municipalities in Serbia, among the most the poor with high unemployment, especially among young people".

The Albanian National Council announced the public call for farmers on October 26, 2024 and since then has received over 1,178 applications, according to Bislim.

"Exactly on December 10, on the International Day of Human Rights, Albanians in Presheva, Bujanoc and Medvegja were deprived of the possibility of assistance from the Republic of Kosovo", said Bislimi.

He said that Serbia has no right to hinder Kosovo's support for the Albanians of the Presheva Valley and called on the international community to react and "act to protect the rights of the Albanians in the Presheva Valley".

On Tuesday morning, the chairman of the Albanian National Council (KKSH) in the Presheva Valley, Nevzad Lutfiu, said that the Serbian Ministry has asked the NKSH to cancel the competition.

"The Ministry in question requests that the competition be canceled (to cancel the decision of the NKSH), if we do not cancel this decision, then the Ministry will do it itself, under the pretext that the decision is illegal," he wrote in the Ministry's reply. on Facebook.

Luftiu insisted that the Council will not abolish the competition, adding that "after consultation with the Government of Kosovo, you will be notified of the next steps".

Sinani said that she, as the mayor of Presheva, condemns "strongly this discriminatory action" and expressed her support for the NKSH and all Albanian institutions "that work to protect the interests of our population".

Albanians living in the municipalities in the south of Serbia, Presevo, Medvegja and Bujanoc - known as the Presevo Valley - often complain of discriminatory practices by the Serbian state, as officials in the Government of Kosovo have echoed these accusations.

Albanians in the Presheva Valley have also been complaining about the passivization of residential addresses for years, and during this year they have protested several times demanding more rights.

The residents of the Valley and the leaders of the municipalities there have requested several times for the presence of international mechanisms, in order to monitor the living conditions in that part./REL