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Is Presevo now special case too, asks Serbian FM (BETA, Tanjug, Prva TV, B92)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says he is awaiting the reaction of the EU and those who said that Kosovo is a special case. Dacic, who also serves as the first deputy PM, asked whether Presevo - a town and area in the southern part of central Serbia inhabited by ethnic Albanians - was now also "a special case." "When it comes to Serbia, it's about special cases all the way," he remarked. Dacic called on the EU to make "a concrete statement" on the topics that concern Serbia and the Serb people. European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic previously said that Kosovo, "as confirmed by the Council of Ministers" was "a sui generis case that cannot be compared to any other situation" - referring to the comparison between Kosovo and Catalonia. Beta is reporting, citing EU sources that "Catalonia is an internal affair of Spain, an EU member, and cannot be compared with the case of Kosovo - the stand of the EU Council of Ministers regarding its 2008 unilateral proclamation of independence being that it was a unique case which could not serve as a precedent." Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that she would visit the EU on October 10 and bring with her a letter from the Serbian authorities, requesting an explanation about whether a special international law existed that did not apply to non-EU members. As for the allegations that the Presevo valley was seeking "unification with Kosovo modeled on the Spanish region of Catalonia," the prime minister said this issue was "not open for discussion." Asked if she had discussed this "demand" with the representatives of national councils of ethnic minorities, Brnabic said that she had not, and would not. Meanwhile, one of the leaders of ethnic Albanians in the area, Jonuz Musliu, said that Serbia should "accept the March 1992 referendum, in accordance with the UN Charter, which guarantees self-determination of indigenous peoples." After the Albanian language website Presheva Jone announced that Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj will soon allow Albanians from Presevo and nearby Bujanovac to receive Kosovo "passports and citizenship," Prva TV visited these two towns. Local politicians were not ready to talk about passports, while citizens were more interested in economic than in political stories.