PRESS RELEASE

NATIONAL CONVENTIOON ON THE EUROPEAN UNION
Working Group for Chapter 35

PRESS RELEASE

The Working Group of the National Convention on the European Union for Chapter 35 strongly condemns the public speeches of Minister Aleksandar Vulin in which he continuously calls Albanians "Shiptars", thus insulting the dignity of the Albanian national minority and the Albanian people as a whole. Such statements by a high-ranking official of the Republic of Serbia undermine the dignity of the institutions of the Republic, primarily the Ministry of the Interior, on the official website of which the Minister Vulin’s speech was published.

Despite the stagnation in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, inappropriate messages from the current government in Pristina, but also the use of offensive terms in the political space of countries in the region, this in no way justifies open discriminatory language with which Minister Vulin violates national and international practices. It is the obligation of all public representatives, and especially holders of public office, to respect the laws, norms, dignity of all, both of the majority people and national minorities, as well as to promote tolerance, a culture of dialogue and a policy of reconciliation.

We also call on the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic of Serbia, as the main negotiator in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, to make a statement about the open forms of discrimination and hate speech against the Albanian people that permanently make the political space in the country vulgar and primitive, and to condemn it. Minister Vulin's inappropriate statements cause irreparable damage not only in the domestic public, but also to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Serbian-Albanian relations and the country's regional and international reputation. Finally, the message is sent that there is no sincere desire of the political elite in Serbia to reach a reconciliation and a lasting compromise solution regarding the status of Kosovo and Metohija.