We’ve proven that even after the ID deal, ID cards issued by the Ministry of Interior of Serbia to Serbian citizens in Kosovo are not recognized – the president of the civic initiative „Srpski Opstanak“, Aleksandar Arsenijevic, addressed the public today from the Djeneral Jankovic crossing.
After the Belgrade and Pristina agreement on non-issuance of entry/exit documents entered into force at midnight, Arsenijevic visited this border crossing to North Macedonia located in the very south of Kosovo.
„We came to verify whether the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina is valid and respected,“ Arsenijevic said in a video posted on the Facebook page of „Srpski Opstanak“.
After the ID deal was reached on August 27th, Belgrade announced that the Serbian government „despite all obstacles and blackmail, managed to defend Serbian IDs for Serbs in Kosovo“, and that every Serbian citizen living in Kosovo will be able to use Serbian IDs to move about freely.
„Every Serb south and north of the Ibar, without exception, will be able to live, work, travel and cross administrative crossings without problems with their Serbian IDs,“ the head of the Kosovo Office, Petar Petkovic, said at the time.
Earlier today, Arsenijevic made an attempt to enter North Macedonia with his Serbian ID issued by the Kosovska Mitrovica PD in Raska.
He says that the officials from the Kosovo side of the crossing did not allow him to cross with this ID card.
„As they told me – the documents of parallel institutions are not valid. If I had an identity card issued in Kraljevo, Raska or any other ID, I would be able to cross. They consider, as they told me, these IDs as documents of parallel institutions not recognized by the system,“ said Arsenijevic.
In a short statement for KoSSev, the president of “Srpski Opstanak” said that the police officers copied his documents and recorded that he tried to cross the border crossing.
Furthermore, he confirmed that the officials told him it is impossible to enter Kosovo from the direction of North Macedonia using such IDs.
He added that he requested an official explanation of the entry ban in the form of a document, noting that he was told that such a document is issued only to those entering Kosovo from the direction of North Macedonia.
„This means that neither Borrell, Belgrade, nor Pristina respect this agreement. Nor is the European Union a guarantor for what our public has been told,“ Arsenijevic argued, alerting that „there is no room for euphoria.“
Near this crossing, on the Kosovo side, the flag of the Republic of Albania is prominently displayed.
Unlike the Djeneral Jankovic crossing that leads to North Macedonia, holders of IDs issued to Serbian citizens in Kosovo can enter Kosovo from the direction of Serbia proper without any issues.
At midnight last night, the deal reached on August 27th entered into force, by which Belgrade undertook to cancel the „entry/exit“ documents for citizens entering Serbia proper with Kosovo documents, and Pristina not to issue such documents to Serbian ID holders.
The implementation of this agreement started last night without problems, with citizens of Kosovo entering Serbia proper with only a Kosovo ID, and those with Serbian documents crossing into the territory of Kosovo, the Pristina media report.
For years, the Serbian authorities issued declaration sheets to all citizens traveling through Serbia proper with Kosovo documents, based on the 2011 Freedom of Movement Agreement.
On June 29th this year, the Kosovo government decided to start issuing such documents to citizens with Serbian IDs entering Kosovo from August 1st, describing this move as “reciprocity” with Serbia.
After tensions heightened at the end of July, when Kosovo Serbs erected barricades in the north of Kosovo in opposition to this, as well as the decision to re-register vehicles with Serbian markings of towns in Kosovo to RKS plates, the Kosovo government decided to postpone the implementation of the decisions until September 1st.
However, on August 27th, Brussels announced that the parties agreed Serbia should stop issuing declaration slips and that the Kosovo side would not be introducing them.
The Serbian side also started issuing so-called disclaimer at the crossings to all those traveling with Kosovo IDs, which states that recognition of Kosovo IDs in no way implies recognition of Kosovo’s independence.
On the other hand, Belgrade and Pristina failed to reach an agreement on the license plates issue. At midnight last night the two-month deadline for the re-registration of vehicles with Serbian license plates of towns in Kosovo to RKS plates started.
Today, Kurti once again urged Kosovo Serbs to re-register their vehicles, in response, Petkovic said that they would „preserve KM plates“.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
