SERBIA: Serbia's minority Albanian population prepare to participate in national elections for the first time since 1992

Record ID: 561590

  • Title: SERBIA: Serbia's minority Albanian population prepare to participate in national elections for the first time since 1992
  • Date: 19th January 2007
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) HAVCE HALIDI, GEOGRAPHY TEACHER IN LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL, SAYING: "We do not have freedom, we do not have education or health services, we do not have courts. What should we expect from the elections, what should we expect from two, three, or five deputies who will serve in the Serbian parliament?"
  • Embargoed: 3rd February 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Serbia
  • Country: Serbia
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3SS4ZJLJYX965WXA5U17MBJSF
  • Story Text: Serbia's minority Albanian population is participating in national elections for the first time since 1992, which observers say shows marked progress both for the troubled area and for the nearby Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo.
    The minority Albanians in southern Serbia are entering elections with their own coalition assured of at least one seat in parliament under changes in the law to boost participation of minorities in the political process.
    The predominantly Albanian area around Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac has been peaceful but tense since a NATO-brokered deal put an end to clashes between local Albanian separatists and Serbian security forces in 2001.
    People there accuse the Belgrade authorities of negligence and oppression, and complain they are discriminated against when it comes to allocation of aid and investment from the central government. "We do not have freedom, we do not have education or health services, we do not have courts. What should we expect from the elections, what should we expect from two, three, or five deputies who will serve in the Serbian parliament?," asked ethnic Albanian teacher Havce Halidi.
    The area borders Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo, which has been under United Nations (U.N.) administration since a 1999 NATO air campaign drove out Serbian security forces commanded by the late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic. Kosovo is expected to get some form of independence this spring, against the wishes of both Belgrade and Kosovo's Serbian minority, who refuse to participate in Kosovo's political life and see Belgrade as their capital .
    "Compared to Milosevic's time, the situation is now different. Things are changing but we have the impression that it is very slow", says Presevo mayor Riza Halimi. "It is very difficult to convince our citizens that we will have influence and that we will be active in the executive part of the government and that we will be involved in all of government structures. Simply, the suspicion still exists."
    Diplomats hope that the Albanian participation in elections will calm down the area, and maybe convince Kosovo Serbs to stay in the province and take part in its politics, rather than leave for Serbia as many have threatened.
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