According to the results of the latest online poll carried out by KoSSev, the majority of respondents hold Serbian passports issued by the Coordination Administration.
The news that the European Council finally adopted the decision yesterday on the visa-free regime for holders of Serbian passports in Kosovo, issued by the Coordination Administration, was welcomed by the citizens of Serbia from Kosovo who still hold this passport.
However, the Kosovo authorities continue to object to this decision, claiming that it is unfair, harmful, illegal, and a violation of the law.
Although there is no doubt that the holders of these passports were the only citizens on European soil who until now still needed a Schengen visa to travel within the EU, there is a lack of precise data on the remaining number of users of this passport.
The number of CA passports in circulation – 18,000
Between August 16, 2007, and June 3, 2016, the Coordination Administration issued a total of 76,807 passports, says the NGO „Aktiv“.
The EU rapporteur for this issue, Matjaž Nemec, on the basis of whose report this decision to waive visas for these passports was first recommended and then voted on, reports that this number has now dropped to 18,000.
It is a public secret that since 2009, when they became holders of ‘second class’ passports, Serbs from Kosovo, as well as others who have Serbian documents, have been ‘getting by’.
Through purposeful and even fictitious changes of residence of citizens from Kosovo to one of the towns in Serbia, they became legal holders of visa-free Serbian passports. This continued until the visa liberalization that entered into force in January of this year for holders of Kosovo passports, when a large number of Serbs obtained a Kosovo passport.
Acquiring a CA passport: a tiresome and more expensive process
Obtaining a Kosovo passport is quite cheaper, with lower travel costs than it is the case with CA passports, which require traveling from Kosovo to Belgrade on at least two occasions, to first submit the documents and then pick up the passport.
„Unfortunately, a lot of people spent a lot of money and used connections to apply anywhere in Serbia proper for a passport. They tortured themselves and others several times, paid taxes twice, humiliated themselves, made false statements about losing their passport and ID card, and now their driver’s license. It’s sickening. This is a situation like when you don’t have water and electricity all day, and then you do in the evening. And? Do we then rejoice that we have water and power or do we say: Finally, and then we swear?“ – said one of the fellow citizens from the north.
We asked our readers across three online social platforms how they reacted to the latest news from Brussels.
„I had that passport when I was supposed to travel to Turkey. I had previously inquired at the embassy and a visa was not required. However, in order to get it, you have to travel to Belgrade twice, and you have to go to Niška Banja twice for your ID card. It’s a big expense and a long trip. If you decide to change your place of residence, for example from Gračanica to Belgrade, then the verification takes up to three months. The police on the ground determine that it is not a fictitious address. In other words, the government in Serbia is trying to prevent emigration by not allowing you to change your place of residence. Today, all Serbs have Kosovo documents, and I highly doubt that anyone will make two trips to Belgrade to get a passport issued by the Coordination Administration.”
„Shameful, second-class citizens,“ reads one of the more frequent comments of Kosovo Serbs.
„Thanks to Vučko (cf. president Vučić), I took Kosovo documents and now I don’t need Serbian ones,” this is also one of the typical answers, as well as:
„This is like shutting the door after the horse has bolted.“
Online poll: The majority of respondents say that they use the passport of the Coordination Administration
To our question of which passport the citizens will be using, the prominent majority among those who took part in the poll answered that they would use the passport issued by the Coordination Administration, followed by the ‘normal’ Serbian passport, which is regularly issued by police departments, with the Kosovo passport taking the last, third place.
In the Instagram poll, a total of 56%, i.e. 284 votes out of a total of 504, indicated that they use a passport issued by the Coordination Administration. On the other hand, the results of the poll shared on Twitter show that this passport came in second place (29%), compared to the Kosovo passport – (32%).
When asked how much the cancellation of the Schengen visa for the passport of the Coordination Administration means to them, exactly half (198 votes) out of a total of 394 on Instagram answered that it is very important for them because they only have this passport. While 16% of respondents say that it is also a significant matter for them even though they hold Kosovo passports. The decision does not affect 34% of those who voted, of which 11% only have a Kosovo passport, while 23% have a regular Serbian passport.
The results are similar on the Twitter poll, with almost the same percentage of those who have only the passport of the Coordination Administration and citizens who have a regular Serbian passport – 33% each. A total of 11% of respondents said they are also affected by the decision from Brussels but admit that they also have a Kosovo passport. The decision is unimportant for 22% of respondents who said they only have a Kosovo passport.
A total of 974 votes were cast for two questions with four answers provided each.
„I hope that all those who endured and had the courage and morals to use these visa-free passports without asking Srpska Lista for something that they would have to give back in one way or another. I wish you freedom and broader horizons,“ said one of our readers who decided to give a descriptive answer.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
