Address to the Report by the High Commissioner on National Minorities,
Mr. Christophe Kamp
Meeting 1523 of the Permanent Council
05 June 2025, Vienna
Thank you Chair,
It is a pleasure to welcome you back, Christophe, to the Permanent Council – this time in your new capacity as the High Commissioner on National Minorities.
We appreciate the intense start of your mandate and wish you continued success in advancing the HCNM mission. You can count on Albania’s full support.
We have taken note of your comprehensive report and commend your active engagement across the OSCE region. Albania places a high value on the role of the HCNM as a key actor in promoting inclusion and dialogue. In this context, we welcome your intention—highlighted in the report—to engage directly with Kosova. We welcome continued interaction with all relevant institutions and communities in Kosova as a reflection of the inclusive and cooperative approach that defines the HCNM’s work.
As the High Commissioner rightly observed, the effectiveness of our shared efforts depends on close cooperation and a common resolve to uphold minority rights and prevent conflict. Albania remains fully engaged in this shared mission and stands ready to continue its active cooperation with the HCNM.
Domestically, Albania remains firmly committed to strengthening the protection of minority rights, in line with our long-standing values and international obligations.
In December 2024, we adopted the final set of implementing legislation under the Law on National Minorities, addressing two fundamental areas: the right to free self-identification and the use of minority languages in public life. This marked an important step toward greater inclusion, participation, and protection for all minority communities in Albania.
In the same spirit of cooperation and progress, Albania’s Committee on National Minorities recently hosted a valuable exchange visit with its Estonian counterparts, focused on practical approaches to minority integration and inclusion. Supported by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, the European Union, and the Council of Europe, this initiative provided meaningful insights for our institutions and contributed to strengthening regional dialogue and expertise.
Colleagues,
Albania has consistently and in good faith raised concerns over the situation of the Albanian community in the Preshevo Valley, in Serbia, urging that their rights be fully respected and protected.
We are deeply concerned that the ongoing passivisation of residential addresses is being applied in a discriminatory and disproportionate manner, with the Albanian communities in Bujanoc, Medvegja, and Presheva being the most affected in the Republic of Serbia. This practice effectively denies access to basic rights and public services, amounting to administrative exclusion. The Albanian National Minority Council has repeatedly raised this issue, emphasizing that such actions constitute a serious violation of the fundamental rights of the Albanian minority.
These concerns—long-standing and well-documented—are now clearly acknowledged in the Fifth Opinion of the Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities on Serbia.
As noted by the Advisory Committee, this administrative measure lacks transparency and accessible remedies, and it has very real consequences: denial of the right to vote, access to healthcare, education, and other essential services.
These are not abstract issues—they directly impact the daily lives and dignity of individuals and families.
Albania calls for meaningful dialogue to address these practices, in full respect of Serbia’s obligations under the Framework Convention.
We also respectfully invite the High Commissioner to take these findings into account in his engagement with Serbia, and to support measures that foster trust, inclusion, and institutional accountability.
Albania remains a steadfast partner to the OSCE and to the HCNM’s mission. We will continue to support all efforts that advance peace, protect minority rights, and uphold the shared values that have guided this organization for five decades.
Thank you.
