Minister confirms rejection of diplomas

Ethnic Albanians from the south of Serbia are unhappy with the government’s decision not to recognize Kosovo degrees. The Education Ministry decided to recognize the degrees in 2001, providing that they were certified by UNMIK and printed with UNMIK letterheads. Minister confirms rejection of diplomas Explaining the decision, Education Minister Zarko Obradovic said that it had been a matter of state reasons that he did not want to elaborate on. Bujanovac Municipal President Saip Kamberi said that this move could aggravate the crisis in the south of Serbia. According to the Education Ministry’s latest interpretation, degrees certified with UNMIK stamps have not been issued in accordance with the law and do not represent proof of education. Obradovic linked the government’s decision to the “state reasons” which he did not want to go into. He told B92 that the new decision had to be applied. "This entire business about the degrees is based on the requests of three people in the Local Self-Government Ministry who wanted to resolve their status while taking the state internship exam. If three people can rock the country…,” said Obradovic. During a recent visit to Albania, Kamberi asked Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha to get diplomatically involved in resolving the problem. He told B92 that he did not understand why, after seven years, all of a sudden, UNMIK certified degrees were suddenly no longer valid. "If the decision remains in force, that means that the government has decided to create an artificial crisis in the Presevo valley and heighten tensions in the region. This position is utterly unacceptable to the local authorities in Presevo and Bujanovac. Our MP Riza Halimi sent a letter to the prime minister a month ago, but we have still to receive any concrete response. We will apply all democratic means to oppose that decision and attempt to preserve that right, inherited, so to speak, in 2001,” he warned. Ethnic Albanian representatives from the south of Serbia viewed the government’s decision to recognize UNMIK certified degrees as an opportunity for them to integrate into local authorities. Halimi, the leader of the Party for Democratic Action and the only ethnic Albanian MP in the Serbian parliament, as well as Kamberi, think that this decision will cause tremendous problems that may become a destabilizing factor in the south of the country. Education Minister Zarko Obradovic (FoNet, archive)

Minister confirms rejection of diplomas

Explaining the decision, Education Minister Žarko Obradović said that it had been a matter of state reasons that he did not want to elaborate on.

Bujanovac Municipal President Šaip Kamberi said that this move could aggravate the crisis in the south of Serbia.

According to the Education Ministry’s latest interpretation, degrees certified with UNMIK stamps have not been issued in accordance with the law and do not represent proof of education. Obradović linked the government’s decision to the “state reasons” which he did not want to go into. He told B92 that the new decision had to be applied.

"This entire business about the degrees is based on the requests of three people in the Local Self-Government Ministry who wanted to resolve their status while taking the state internship exam. If three people can rock the country…,” said Obradović.

During a recent visit to Albania, Kamberi asked Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha to get diplomatically involved in resolving the problem. He told B92 that he did not understand why, after seven years, all of a sudden, UNMIK certified degrees were suddenly no longer valid.

"If the decision remains in force, that means that the government has decided to create an artificial crisis in the Preševo valley and heighten tensions in the region. This position is utterly unacceptable to the local authorities in Preševo and Bujanovac. Our MP Riza Halimi sent a letter to the prime minister a month ago, but we have still to receive any concrete response. We will apply all democratic means to oppose that decision and attempt to preserve that right, inherited, so to speak, in 2001,” he warned.

Ethnic Albanian representatives from the south of Serbia viewed the government’s decision to recognize UNMIK certified degrees as an opportunity for them to integrate into local authorities.

Halimi, the leader of the Party for Democratic Action and the only ethnic Albanian MP in the Serbian parliament, as well as Kamberi, think that this decision will cause tremendous problems that may become a destabilizing factor in the south of the country.