Vetevendosje protested on Wednesday against Serbia’s President Alexandar Vučić and BiH Presidency Member Milorad Dodik’s visit to Albania.
Vučić and Dodik are attending the seventh Summit of Brdo-Brijuni Process hosted by Albania’s President Ilir Meta in Tirana on May 8th-9th.
Protesters said that Vučić and Dodik were personae non gratae in Albania because of their expansionist goals against Albanians and other peoples in the region. Their supremacist policies endanger the Albanians, justice and peace in the region, according to protest organizers. They denounced both Serbian politicians for their lack of regret for Serbia’s crimes under the regime of the ‘Butcher of the Balkans’ Slobodan Milosević.
Last September, President Alexandar Vučić praised Milosević as a “great” leader. During the wars in the Balkans under the Milosević regime, Vučić was his information minister and an ultranationalist.
After the protest, a photo was posted on the Instagram page of Serbia’s President in which Alexandar Vučić and Milorad Dodik were seen having a drink in Tirana.
“‘A meeting among brothers in Tirana’ – President Vučić with BiH Presidency Chairman Milorad Dodik,” the post wrote.
Yesterday’s protest came amidst uncertainties regarding the future of Vučić’s plan to reach an agreement with Kosovo through territorial exchange. Vučić said that his idea had failed after the Berlin Summit of few days ago, but President Thaçi of Kosovo declared yesterday that he and Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama will be backing the plan.
Protesters called against any plans envisioning territorial exchange between Kosovo and Serbia.
Police arrested two protesters yesterday, only to release them few hours later after activists of the Vetevendosje Center in Tirana gathered in front of the police station. Organizers said their protest was peaceful but nevertheless police had exercised violence against them on orders from top Albanian government officials.
The Vetevendosje Movement Center in Tirana was formed in April 2019. It is an NGO aiming at raising awareness in Albania on the unification of Albanians. Vetevendosje is also one of the two main opposition parties in Kosovo.
