Petar Petković, Director of Serbia’s Office for Kosovo, stated on Tuesday that he made it clear to the European Union that the municipalities of Presheva and Bujanoc cannot be topics in the ongoing Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

“Presheva and Bujanoc are part of central Serbia, governed by our laws and Constitution, and therefore cannot be up for discussion—regardless of [Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin] Kurti and [Deputy Prime Minister Besnik] Bislimi’s attempts to introduce them,” Petković said following his meeting in Brussels with the EU’s envoy for dialogue, Peter Sorensen.

He emphasized that the only legitimate topics of the dialogue include “Kosovo’s status, the position of the Serb population, the formation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, and finding compromise solutions that contribute to peace and stability in Kosovo.”

His comments followed Bislimi’s remarks the previous day, in which the Kosovo official reiterated the government’s support for ethnic Albanians in the Presevo Valley, particularly through aid for small farmers in the region.

More than 60,000 ethnic Albanians live in Serbia, making them the country’s fourth-largest minority, according to the 2022 census. The Presevo Valley—encompassing Presheva, Medvegja, and Bujanoc—is often described in international reports as politically and economically marginalized, receiving attention mainly during election cycles.

Ethnic Albanians in Serbia continue to raise concerns over non-recognition of Kosovo-issued diplomas, limited integration into Serbian institutions, restrictions on the use of Albanian national symbols, and the unresolved issue of address deregistration, known as passivization.