MEDVEGJA, Nov. 26 – President Ilir Meta visited the region of Medvegja, in the southern Serbia on Sunday, as part of the renewed efforts to strengthen the relations of Albania and Serbia, but also to encourage the cooperation of the all the countries in the region, officials said.
Meta met with the Serbian commune officials representing the areas of Presheva, Bujanoc and Medvegja, as well as ethnic Albanian residents of the area and a number of Albanians at the border point of Mutivoda.
“This is a beautiful day for me. I feel excited to be here among you. Politics should give more attention to the Albanians living here and all the areas around here. I hope my visit makes a clear contribution in this direction. From Medvegja, I want to stress that the future of our nation and of the entire region is in the European Union, and this can only be achieved by cooperating even more closely with each other,” Meta said, addressing the crowd.
Meta also gathered the ethnic Albanians of the region, and those coming from Medvegja but living abroad, for a dinner during which the president was given a thanking plaque and the monograph of the Medvegja Humanitarian Association.
According to statistics, out of the approximate 7,000 people living in Medvegja, 520 belong to the Albanian ethnic minority – a number swaying each time ethnic Albanians return to the commune to visit friends, property or vote in local elections.
Meta is the first Albanian President to visit the Medvegja. There, as well as in Bujanoc and Presheva, the number of the ethnic Albanian minority used to be much higher, but political and economic pressures have forced many to move.
Traditional annual festivities, such as ‘Meetings of the Birthplace’, that bring together all Medvegja citizens living abroad or in other communes, are some of the only testifiers of Medvegja’s past.
Yet, visits similar to those of Meta have been interpreted as signs that efforts are being made to change the direction of the two countries’ past relations of mutual hostility.
