Zallç village on the top agenda of Intermnational community
2010/09/30 - 12:00
A delegation led by the OSCE Director RC Peja, Mr. Jovdat Mammadov, Ms.Ita Schuette from UNHCR, the International Official from the Ministry of Communities and Returns, Ms. Eva Kitzler, have been received by the Mayor of Istog/Istok Municipality, Mr. Haki Rugova.
Mr. Rugova highly appreciated the commitment of OSCE, UNHCR, Ministry of Communities and Returns and all other domestic and international stakeholders being engaged in overcoming the created situation in Zallç village.
“It results that the issue of Zallç became a top agenda of our activities, though, my impression is that the issue is not as serious as it is being dramatized. However, we will not stop with our actions as long as the situation is brought to the normal”, clarified Mr. Rugova for his guests.
Despite visible indications of the improved security situation in Zallç village, the officials of OSCE consider that intensified actions should be taken in order to create a safe environment for Serb returnees.
“OSCE has established a task force related to Zallç case. We had contacts with many interlocutors, with both communities, Albanian and Serb community members to assess the situation in Zallç and this fact finding helped us a lot to have a better understanding” stated Mr. Mammadov;
Ms. Eva Kitzler from MCR said that the municipality did a lot to stabilize the situation in the village, and we are aware of that.
“I think that we all have a unique opinion that the Zallç case is an isolated incident” declared Ms. Kitzler.
Mr. Oliver Shmidt-Gutzat from OSCE, said that the role of the municipality is crucial to solve the land cultivation problem that Serb community is facing in the village.
The proposal of direct contacts between Albanians and Serbs is something that has to happen, but to make it feasible, it is necessary to jointly work on this issue.
