In order to get permission to enter Kosovo, officials of the Serbian government have to restrain from interfering in internal Kosovo’s affairs and political rhetoric, said to RTK2 Bajram Rexhepi, Minister of Internal Affairs. Serbian officials cannot have visits of political nature.
When Marko Djuric, Director of the Office for KiM, was prevented from entering Kosovo, the issue of frequent ban on visits by Serbian officials in Kosovo got actualized.
Djuric was not allowed to enter Kosovo because he interfered with the politics of Kosovo, and that he was not allowed to do, told RTK2 Kosovo Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi.
Rexhepi said that the problem with the entry of Serbian officials into Kosovo is not due to the documents, but when they break the agreements reached, such as statements or acts that imply interference in the internal affairs of Kosovo.
“Sometimes he goes out of his responsibility, trying to act as though Kosovo is Serbia, he uses political rhetoric that is not orderly and does not hold to those standards that we have agreed upon on the free movement of senior statesmen”.
“It is not about what he has to possess, it is what he thinks to do. If he wants to interfere in the internal affairs of Kosovo surely he will not be allowed to do it, therefore he sometimes goes beyond the agreed categories,” said the minister.
Analysts believe that the agreements must be respected and that entries into Kosovo should not be prevented for no reason.
According to political analyst Lon Malazogu, officials from Serbia must respect the agreement on entry into Kosovo, but also it is not good if the authorities in Pristina do not allow Serbian officials to enter if there are no reasons for it. He emphasizes the importance of more visits from both sides.
“During some visits, as I heard, they did not respect the rules and attitude of Kosovo that work of political character is not allowed, meaning that Pristina slowly tries to treat political issues as domestic issues. Some of the stories they discuss in Brussels and Belgrade can join the discussion in Brussels, but it should not involve directly in the affairs of Kosovo,” said Malazogu.
Among the officials of Serbia, which previously have been repeatedly banned from entering Kosovo, are the liaison officer Dejan Pavicevic, Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric and former director of the Office for KiM Aleksandar Vulin.
Visits of religious character are the most commonly approved. So recently on the St. Vitus day, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic was in Kosovo, after his request was approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo.
