Albanian councillors in the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja adopted a joint declaration seeking unification with Kosovo in case borders in the area are changed.
Around two-thirds of some 100,000 residents of the Presevo Valley are of Albanian origin.
The declaration, which is considered a joint political platform, reads that Albanians from the three municipalities should not be drafted and demands shedding light on the killings of ethnic Albanians in the period from 1999 to 2005.
The councillors did not adopt a request that the Presevo Valley be renamed eastern Kosovo.
They said that the declaration was part of efforts to launch concrete and coordinated activities to solve problems burdening Albanians in the region in the spirit of European integration processes.
They also warned that unless the issue of the Presevo Valley was solved in a satisfactory way, the entire region would continue to be a source of unrest and an obstacle on the path to Euro-Atlantic associations.
The local Albanian leaders also urged the full demilitarisation of the region, the removal of the existing army bases and those under construction, the establishment of a multiethnic police force and command structure, the introduction of the Albanian language into all institutions, and the official use of Albanian national symbols and a right to celebrate important days in the Albanian national history.