Starović: The initiative by Albanians from the south of Serbia doomed to failure

Namely, Albania took over its month-long presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the first time last week, and a few days ago, the media reported that Albanian leaders from the south of Serbia had visited the United States of America and talked with Albanian Ambassador to the UN Ferit Hoxha, requesting that the “Preševo valley” matter be brought before the UN.

However, State Secretary Starović pointed out that, taking into account the existing procedure under which the UN Security Council operates, any initiative that would thematise or put the status of the Albanian minority in Serbia on the agenda was doomed to failure.

State Secretary Starović told Tanjug that the chances were virtually non-existent for such an item to be found on the agenda at one of the next UN Security Council sessions.

One of the reasons, he explained, was that the agenda of the presidency of the UN Security Council was set on a monthly basis, and so far, there had been absolutely no talk of such a thing.

“The other reason is that when discussing topics that represent an internal issue of a sovereign state, it is necessary to obtain a written approval of the state - in this case, Serbia”, he said, emphasising that neither of the two conditions was met.

State Secretary Starović added that, on the other hand, there was a possibility that the issue would be discussed at the sessions of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, to be held next week, and that there were also no indications or initiatives for adding this item to the agenda.

According to him, there is still a certain possibility for this to happen, as various NGOs also take part in the work of the Council in addition to the sovereign states, so it is necessary to give this matter proper attention.

State Secretary Starović echoed the fact that there had been attempts to problematise the issue regarding the status of the Albanian national minority rights in the international bodies and to raise the issue of the so-called passivation of personal addresses before the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, adding that the problem was resolved in a positive way.

“In cooperation with the OSCE, Serbia has resolved any possible ambiguities in a positive manner. It was pointed out that passivation of addresses throughout the territory of Serbia was being carried out in accordance with the uniform procedures and that discrimination against the members of the Albanian national community was out of the question”, stated State Secretary Starović.

State Secretary Starović reiterated and emphasised the fact that the system of human and minority rights protection in Serbia was at an enviable level - certainly at a higher level than in other countries in the region.

“When it comes to the treatment of national minorities, Serbia is among the top countries in Europe for having a system based on which the Councils of National Minorities were established and they are receiving the maximum state support, including the budget funds allocated for their work”, he said.

State Secretary Starović added that, if there were certain objections or complaints in practice about the status of any national minority which had its home country, the issues should be resolved through the mechanism of Joint Government Committees on national minorities’ rights.

“Serbia established the Joint Intergovernmental Committees with North Macedonia and Romania which are functional, and Serbia is ready to form such a committee with Albania also if there is a need for it," State Secretary Starović said.

Source: Tanjug