Congressman Keith Self Introduces Bill Requiring the State Department to Report on the Treatment of Ethnic Minorities in Serbia

Congressman Keith Self (TX-03), Europe Subcommittee Chairman on the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC), introduced a bill requiring the Department of State to report on Serbia's treatment of ethnic minorities, particularly ethnic Albanians in the Preshevo Valley.

During a Europe Subcommittee Hearing focused on delivering balance to the Balkans, witnesses Max Primorac, Ed Joseph, and Luke Coffey all testified on Serbia's restrictions on the rights of minorities in their country. This includes Serbia's passivation, referring to the deactivation of addresses belonging to ethnic Albanians in the Preshevo Valley, as well as the restricted use of the Albanian language in Serbia's public institutions.

"I am very concerned over the treatment of ethnic minorities in Serbia, particularly the widely reported 'passivation' of addresses in the Preshevo Valley belonging to Albanians," said Congressman Self. "The United States must hold Serbia accountable to offer ethnic Albanian minorities the similar rights and opportunities that it insists on for the ethnic Serb minorities in Kosovo."

A 2025 European Commission report on Serbia recorded startling findings on the country's treatment of its ethnic Albanian minorities. Such reporting included:

• "Serbia's institutional framework for the protection of persons belonging to minorities is incomplete as a new action plan is seriously delayed. Persons belonging to minorities continued to face discrimination."
• "Members of the Albanian national minority continued to raise concerns about the way police were checking residence status in south Serbia, resulting in the 'passivisation' of certain addresses. There is a need for the authorities to better explain to the public how these checks are being conducted and to address the concerns expressed in the fifth opinion over the reported lack of effective remedies."

Furthermore, a 2021 Report titled "Albanian Minority on Hold" published by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia noted that "In order to reduce the number of Albanians living in the south as much as possible, the state is conducting the process of so-called "Passivation of residence of Albanians" working abroad, either in Western Europe or in Kosovo. This "passivation" also targets citizens who permanently reside at their addresses. This measure is, in essence, a form of ethnic cleansing through administrative means. "Passivation" (mass and selective passivation of residence) leads to individuals losing their status of being a citizen of Serbia and, accordingly, all civil rights - the rights to vote, property, health insurance, pension, employment, etc. Since citizens are not informed about "passivation", they usually lose their right to appeal, the deadline for which is eight days."

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