Minister downplays greater Albania talk

Serbia's minister for local administration says statements coming from ethnic Albanian municipal officials from Presevo and Bujanovac are not worrying. Milan Markovic told B92 late on Tuesday that "anyone can say what they like, so much attention should not be paid to it. Such statements came before as well, but they did not garner so much attention." Minister downplays greater Albania talk Some municipal officials from the southern Serbian towns recently attended a gathering in Tirana, Albania, dedicated to a Greater (or "natural") Albania, that would include territories of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Greece. But Markovic noted that there were positive issues that that spoke about a completely different mood among some ethnic Albanian politicians in the region, known informally as the Presevo Valley. However, said the minister, these positive movements do not attract as much attention. He mentioned the fact that more than 50 percent of ethnic Albanian voters took part in elections for national councils, formed their council, and that recently a multi-ethnic municipal authority was set up in Bujanovac. The Tirana gathering, according to Markovic, was not a serious one, while he believes there is no support for "internationalizing" the issue of southern Serbia. "Despite the fact the situation is not good, that there are people who think what they think and who are leaders of some political parties, Serbia's institutions must continue the job they started so that we can trump any possible arguments anyone could try to use with our work and results," said Markovic. When asked whether authorities expected further tensions in the southern areas ahead of the expected talks between Belgrade and Pristina, the minister said that tensions were something he "faces all the time". "I am convinced that everything is moving toward a positive outcome. Today we have (ethnic) Albanians in the Coordinating Body, Serbs in the local government in Bujanovac, and the National Council of the Albanian minority, which should work with us to solve the issues of official languages and education," Matkovic concluded. Milan Markovic (Tanjug, file)

Minister downplays greater Albania talk

Some municipal officials from the southern Serbian towns recently attended a gathering in Tirana, Albania, dedicated to a Greater (or "natural") Albania, that would include territories of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Greece.

But Marković noted that there were positive issues that that spoke about a completely different mood among some ethnic Albanian politicians in the region, known informally as the Preševo Valley. However, said the minister, these positive movements do not attract as much attention.

He mentioned the fact that more than 50 percent of ethnic Albanian voters took part in elections for national councils, formed their council, and that recently a multi-ethnic municipal authority was set up in Bujanovac.

The Tirana gathering, according to Marković, was not a serious one, while he believes there is no support for "internationalizing" the issue of southern Serbia.

"Despite the fact the situation is not good, that there are people who think what they think and who are leaders of some political parties, Serbia's institutions must continue the job they started so that we can trump any possible arguments anyone could try to use with our work and results," said Marković.

When asked whether authorities expected further tensions in the southern areas ahead of the expected talks between Belgrade and Priština, the minister said that tensions were something he "faces all the time".

"I am convinced that everything is moving toward a positive outcome. Today we have (ethnic) Albanians in the Coordinating Body, Serbs in the local government in Bujanovac, and the National Council of the Albanian minority, which should work with us to solve the issues of official languages and education," Matković concluded.