The Serbian Ministry of Information and Telecommunications announced this morning that Kosovo authorities had barred Serbian Minister Dejan Ristić from entering Kosovo today. Just a few hours later, Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported a similar grievance, stating that Kosovo’s Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla was recently denied entry into Serbia.
Ristić was scheduled to attend an event marking the 80th anniversary of the weekly newspaper “Jedinstvo,” the only Serbian-language print media outlet in Kosovo, held at the Cultural Center in Gracanica.
According to the Serbian ministry, Ristić’s visit had been announced in accordance with established procedures, but the ban was communicated just hours before his planned departure.
The ministry expressed regret over the decision, highlighting it as another instance of what they called „discriminatory practices” by Pristina. They pointed to a previous incident in July 2021, when Ristić, then serving as the director of the Museum of Genocide Victims, was reportedly intercepted and detained by Kosovo’s police in Decani for questioning.
The Serbian ministry accused Kosovo of systematically undermining Serbian-language media and jeopardizing the safety of Serbian journalists in the region. They also called on the international community to condemn what they termed an „anti-democratic decision.“
Meanwhile, according to Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla was recently denied entry into Serbia. Sveçla had planned to visit the municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac, and Medveđa on December 23 and 24 to meet with representatives of the Albanian community.
The ministry claimed that all procedural requirements under the Brussels Agreement had been met, but the Serbian government rejected the request, citing Sveçla’s actions and statements as contrary to the interests of the Serbian community in Kosovo and the broader goals of normalization and stability.
Kosovo’s foreign ministry criticized Serbia’s decision, describing it as part of a broader strategy to maintain high tensions and provoke conflicts. They referenced recent incidents, including the denial of entry to Kosovo’s Minister of Culture Hajrulla Čeku.
According to the ministry, these actions are “part of continuous provocations that Serbia regularly conducts with the aim of inciting conflicts, with the terrorist acts in Banjska and on the Ibar-Lepenac being the most evident manifestations of these goals by Serbia.“
The KoSSev portal, which reported on both incidents, reached out to Serbian and Kosovo authorities for further comment. At the time of publication, neither side had provided additional responses.
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