Kosovo passports for Serbs ʹ integration or election issues

Filipi from Northern Mitrovica believes the Kosovo government, “for political reasons”, has asked the European Commission not to allow visa liberalisation for passports of the Co-ordination Administration, issued by Serbia.

I don't think they have any [other] reasons to oppose it; it's a positive”, he tells Radio Free Europe.

Members of the Serb community in Kosovo have the right to Serbian citizenship and with it the right to have both Kosovo and Serbia's passports.

However, Philip has only the passport of the Co-ordination Administration and says he has not wanted to take over Kosovo, because he hopes he can travel without visas even with Serbia's passport.

Kosovo citizens will be able to travel visa-free to European states known as the Schengen area from January 1st next year.

Serbia has won visa liberalisation in 2009, but on the condition it does not apply to the owners of passports it releases to Kosovo-based citizens.

Does the European Commission proposal undermine the integration of Serbs?

After the European Commission warned in April of this year that visa liberalisation, approved for Kosovo, applies only to Kosovo passport owners, the same organ in mid-November dealt with the recommendation for visa removal even to the owners of passports of the Co-ordination Administration, which functions under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia.

The Kosovo government later expressed its “concern” for such a proposal without consultations or preliminary notice.

Official Pristina does not recognise the Serbian passports of the Co-ordination Administration because it considers it an illegal institution.

“Recognition of these documents violates the integration of the Serb community, damages our long-term efforts [for the integration of Serbs]”, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi wrote in a post in his Facebook account on 21 November.

He also said that members of the Serb community with Kosovo passports could move freely to the Schengen area.

On November 24th, the European Commission did not specifically answer Radio Free Europe's questions concerning the Kosovo Government's remarks, but said it would answer.

Do Kosovo passports contribute to the integration of Serbs?

Petri from Gracanica é majority Serb municipality near Pristina has both Kosovo and Serbian passports.

He believes that obtaining any Kosovo document does not mean substantial integration into Kosovo's system or society, but that, according to him, has to do with “practical reasons” or “the election impossible”.

“People must have equal elections and possibilities. Kosovo's government should make efforts to integrate Serbs by offering better quality of living, not blackmail or by limiting the elections”, Petri tells Radio Free Europe.

Based on the Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs data offered to him REL in late October, Kosovo passport requirements in Serb communities have increased this year.

Special interest has taken place in municipalities in northern Kosovo. For example, between January 1st, 2023 and July 30th, 2023, the number of Kosovo passport requests has increased by 97 percent in Leposaviq.

What does the civil sector say?

The Albanian and Serbian civil sector in Kosovo have completely opposing views on the issue.

Ehat Miftaraj, director of the Kosovo Institute for Justice, believes the passport equipment is directly linked to the integration of Kosovo Serbs into Kosovo society and system and says this is the standard that is valid in all democratic states.

The “is a value and a principle to be protected and applied to”, Miftaraj tells Radio Free Europe.

Taking a country's citizenship, he adds, enables citizens to exercise their rights, as is the right to vote.

This relationship between the state and citizens creates a sense of mutual interest, or rather, a deep sense of connection between citizens and the state itself”, Miftaraj says.

But, Jovana Radosavlevic, director of the New Social Initiative, says that “having a specific passport does not mean integration”.

I have to stress that the big problem we face is politicising the issue of free movement of people. Kosovo citizens have the right to dual citizenship properly obtain the passport, but do not have to. Likewise, if someone is also a citizen of Serbia, he can get both passports, either one, or ultimately neither of them”, Radosavlevic tells REL.

She also recalls that the Albanian civil sector has been the first to reject the EC proposal for abolishing visas for passports issued by the Co-ordination Administration, and considers that something like that to be “disturbing”.
Serbian passports issue “ndan” civil sector

On November 21st, a group of about 20 non-governmental organisations from the Albanian community, including the Kosovo Institute for Justice, estimated that lifting visas for passports of the Co-ordination Administration would damage the process of integration of Serbs, especially those living in northern Kosovo.

The group stressed that if the proposal is approved, it would seriously undermine the purpose and implementation of the Agreement on normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia, which the two countries have agreed to in late February of this year.

In this case, emphasis was placed on the point of the Agreement on respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of both sides.

Hours later, the Serbian civil sector in Kosovo reacted, viewing as <x0fyes” the position of colleagues from the Albanian community.

According to him, receiving Kosovo passports does not in any way imply the integration of Serbs into Kosovo society and system.

No Kosovo Serb will be more integrated if Kosovo passport is given... This stems from the fact that passports cannot be taken without identification and testimony to citizenship. In other words, a person who receives the new passport already has citizenship and thus is integrated”, says the response signed by about 15 organisations, among them also the New Social Initiative.

Another open reaction from both sides followed on November 24th, while a joint meeting was called for this week, in which the Albanian and Serbian civil sector will talk about controversial issues.

Is the Co-ordination Administration a parallel institution?

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi called on the EU that the documents issued by Serbia for Kosovo citizens address as illegal.

Jovana Radosavlevq, from the New Social Initiative, says the EC should conclude whether the Co-ordination Administration is an illegal institution or not, but underlines that, currently, it is the only organ that can issue passports for Serbian citizens living in Kosovo, or for persons displaced by Kosovo.

If this organ were to be abolished, these citizens would be deprived of their rights, in the sense that they would not be able to travel, even though this passport [launched by the Co-ordination Administration] still requires visa”, it says.

But, Ehat Miftaraj, from the Kosovo Institute for Justice, says the Co-ordination Administration is an illegal mechanism and that it is contrary to the Kosovo Constitution.

The European Commission's “abimi or inadequate practice in 2009 cannot be legitimised and legalised. This mechanism, which the European Commission has accepted as a political solution, cannot be accepted and should not be legitimised in 2023”, Miftaraj says.

He adds that the Co-ordination Administration for the delivery of passports to citizens living in Kosovo exists because the EU has not forced Serbia to recognise Kosovo and offer a practical solution without violating the Constitution of Kosovo.

In 2009, Serbia has formed the Co-ordination Administration as an organ of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs for issuing passports to Kosovo-based citizens. This, in fact, has been the condition of the EU for Serbia to receive visa liberalisation, with the explanation that, on the contrary, there are security risks that involve particularly illegal migration.

Until then, Serbian passports were issued by police directors for Kosovo cities, such as the one in Pristina, Ferizaj, Peja, and so on.

These police administrations are not mentioned in the passports of the Co-ordination Administration, but are only said to have been issued by Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs.