Serbian ambassador in Albania given demarche

Serbian ambassador in Albania given demarche

For this reason, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday summoned the Albanian ambassador in Belgrade and handed him a strongly worded demarche. The Albanian diplomat later said he read it "in amazement."

The website of the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs now says that it "strongly rejects political slander that key Serbian leaders expressed against the Albanian people and the Albanian state."

It is said that the statements of senior Serbian officials are "opposed to the basic ethics of diplomatic relations and reciprocal behavior, restraint and respect between sovereign states." Moreover, they "do not reflect the aspirations of a candidate country for EU membership."

The statement invited the leaders of Serbia to demonstrate maturity by condemning "the anti-Albanian incidents" that the ministry said "occurred before, during and after a football match between Serbia and Albania."

An example of this is mentioned as "keeping Albanian journalists and entrepreneurs who followed the Albanian team at the Belgrade airport, burning the Albanian flag in the stadium, the forty-minute chants about the killing of Albanians and pathological violence against the Albanian national team."

"Old and present history of the Balkans are a testament that Albania has never been a destabilizing factor in the region, nor the aggressor of nations who seek freedom and independence. Albania is not responsible for the fact that the past can be a burden on the conscience and the emotional state of senior Serbian government officials," the statement said.

It then added that "Albania as a NATO member and a candidate for EU faithfully follow a policy of cooperation, good neighborly relations and democratic stability in the region, firmly believing that the Euro-Atlantic integration is a common path for peoples and states in our region."

"Thanks to the European perspective, today we have a chance to create a region dominated by peace and prosperity, instead of divisions and xenophobia," the statement said.

The Serbian ambassador also said that a protest in front of our diplomatic mission in Tirana was held on Thursday.

"According to our estimates, about 100 young people who call themselves 'new patriots' today at 11:15 held a demonstration in front of Serbian embassy in Tirana, which passed peacefully," Zarić told Tanjug.

The diplomat added that the police prevented the group from approaching the building, and that they were "doing their job very professionally, so far."