Albanian FM: Relations with Serbia improving

Albanian Foreign Minister Ilir Meta said that relations between Albania and Serbia are improving because they share the common goal of European integration. Meta met with the Chief of the Southern Serbia Coordination Center Milan Markovic while visiting Presevo and Bujanovac. He also met with local officials Ragmi Mustafa and Shaip Kamberi and leaders of the local self-administration and ethnic Albanian political parties. Albanian FM: Relations with Serbia improving Meta told reporters in Bujanovac that he is convinced that “this is a new beginning for relations between Albania and Serbia, which will lead to close cooperation between the two state governments and the local governments in Presevo and Bujanovac.” “I know that there are economic problems and poverty in the Presevo valley, but we saw this poverty on the road from Belgrade to Bujanovac as well, there is a lot of poverty in regions of Albania as well, even if there were no inter-ethnic problems there,” Meta said. He said that Albania and Serbia want to integrate into the European Union and achieve new investment possibilities, but that none of that can be achieved without guarantees of peace for different communities that live in southern Serbia. Markovic said that relations between Belgrade and Tirana are important for the entire region, adding that he was very pleased with his talks with Meta. “The past in this region is a very difficult one for all the people regardless of ethnicity, our stance is to look towards the future, and we cannot allow the young people in Bujanovac, Presevo, and Medvedja to be held hostage by our past,” he said. Markovic added that the “Albanian and Serbian political leaders in southern Serbia must work together to create a better life for the citizens that live in the region.” Meta was greeted in Presevo by a band playing traditional Albanian music and had a red carpet put out for him in front of the Bujanovac municipal building. The meetings in southern Serbia ended Meta’s two-day visit to Serbia. He was the first Albanian Foreign Minister to visit Serbia officially.

Albanian FM: Relations with Serbia improving

Meta told reporters in Bujanovac that he is convinced that “this is a new beginning for relations between Albania and Serbia, which will lead to close cooperation between the two state governments and the local governments in Preševo and Bujanovac.”

“I know that there are economic problems and poverty in the Preševo valley, but we saw this poverty on the road from Belgrade to Bujanovac as well, there is a lot of poverty in regions of Albania as well, even if there were no inter-ethnic problems there,” Meta said.

He said that Albania and Serbia want to integrate into the European Union and achieve new investment possibilities, but that none of that can be achieved without guarantees of peace for different communities that live in southern Serbia.

Marković said that relations between Belgrade and Tirana are important for the entire region, adding that he was very pleased with his talks with Meta.

“The past in this region is a very difficult one for all the people regardless of ethnicity, our stance is to look towards the future, and we cannot allow the young people in Bujanovac, Preševo, and Medveđa to be held hostage by our past,” he said.

Marković added that the “Albanian and Serbian political leaders in southern Serbia must work together to create a better life for the citizens that live in the region.”

Meta was greeted in Preševo by a band playing traditional Albanian music and had a red carpet put out for him in front of the Bujanovac municipal building.

The meetings in southern Serbia ended Meta’s two-day visit to Serbia. He was the first Albanian Foreign Minister to visit Serbia officially.