LH RQ (Risk, Albanians, Presevo Valley) Serbia and Montenegro CG

After carefully balancing the country information, and all the evidence before us we consider, possibly extending the benefit of the doubt, that there has not yet been a major change in circumstances to the extent that any prospective fear of persecution by Serb groups, such as those that attacked this appellant and his family in December 2000, is below the level of a real risk nor that there is a sufficiency of protection yet available by the Serbian authorities.

They go on to indicate that they reached this conclusion "possibly at this stage only by a small margin".

The report notes that the positive developments in the Presevo area have been hailed by the international community as a great success for the Serb administrator and the local ethnic Albanian leaders.

Although they have expressed unease about the continued presence of 163 policemen whom they claim served in the Kosovo war, the multi ethnic police force has received wide approval among the ethnic Albanian population.

We put that passage to Mr Chatwin, who could do no more than repeat his general submission, that there had as yet been no complete change. As he pointed out, H's fear had been of two specific officers. Apart from the material about Serbia generally, to which we have already referred, he could put forward no reason why any repetition of their previous behaviour towards H should be tolerated by the Pre�evo authorities in the present climate.