On Wednesday morning, the walls of the buildings in downtown of Presheva were covered with graffiti in Albanian and Serbian language. "I don't want to see battalions of gendarmerie, I want to accept my diploma", "I want university education in my native language," were some of the graffiti messages written on the walls. Presheva Valley is a region located in the eastern and southeastern border between Kosovo and Serbia, which is mainly populated by the ethnic Albanians.

 

The graffiti, according to the only Presheva Valley Albanian MP in the Serbia Parliament, Riza Halimi, shows "a legitimate protesting action of freedom of expression."

"All political institutions have complained for the excessive and disproportional presence of police in the Valley, therefore, I don't see any excuses here, because the graffiti clearly emphasizes the frustration of the locals," said Halimi during an interview for the Serbia daily Danas.

He reminded that "the empty promising story to open up the Faculty of Pedagogy is over 6 years old" 

"During the previous talks on education with the competent ministers, the facts show the desperate need to open an institution for higher education in Presheva during the next 3 years. Well, now it's been 6 years and we can all witness the lack of government's attention to the issues here. We still have issues with recognizing the University of Prishtina diplomas...," added Halimi.

Keeping Presheva in the dark and isolation has been one of Serbia's main tactics by using political and police force against the local ethnic Albanians, which Halimi has accused the Serbian government for "stealth institutional ethnic cleansing."  

Meanwhile, from Vranje, hundreds of Serbian gendarmerie forces are seen heading to Presheva Valley to investigate the graffiti signs in the buildings, an order given by Serbia's interior ministry.