The father who expects Bosnia to lift Kosovo visas: “Live for that day”

Three months after the signing of the agreement by the six states, while Kosovo ratified it in the Assembly, in Bosnia and Herzegovina for ratification of the agreement has not been discussed at all.

Milorad Dodik, president of the Republika Srpska entity, questioned the entire process, which would allow citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo to travel visa-free from one country to another.

He said ministers of this entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina will not vote the law/agreement at the BiH Council of Ministers.

“Yes, we said we would respect and support freedom of movement, but in no way does that mean we would tolerate the insults that Pristina repeatedly resorts to the provisional authorities in Pristina”, it has written Dodik on his Twitter account, without specifying what insults Pristina is doing to Republika Srpska.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Council of Ministers at the 23 February session, due to the rejection of entity ministers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska (RS), postponed the discussion on the agreement.

I live for that day. I haven't been to Kosovo in eight months. Can you imagine not seeing your child for eight months? It's not that simple”, Muharrem Nerjowa told Radio Free Europe.

Besides Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country in the region that does not recognise Kosovo's independence.

For Kosovo citizens to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a visa is required, which “is issued only in extraordinary cases” with the signing of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Foreign Affairs Minister. Visa application could be handed over to Skopje, Podgorica and Belgrade.

Kosovo citizens, according to instructions adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2012, cannot travel and stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina for tourist reasons.

According to instructions, Kosovo citizens along with the application should submit an invitation letter confirmed by the BiH Foreign Affairs Service or a copy of a court or another official call seeking an answer to the legal procedures conducted in BiH, or a certificate of receiving education or training.

The request for visa issue could also be confirmed by a call from a state organ or BiH entity, a request from a foreign diplomatic-consequential representative in BiH, or a request from a representative office of an international organisation in BiH sent through the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs”, the BiH Embassy in Skopje, the capital of Northern Macedonia, told Radio Free Europe.

The embassy has not responded if BiH recognises Kosovo's passport as valid documents during the release of Bosnia and Herzegovina's visa. According to existing guidelines, the visa does not enter Kosovo's passport, but is issued on separate paper (formular).

Also, from 2014, citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina have to be equipped with visas to enter Kosovo, because mutual measures for the visa regime have been implemented later.

What is controversial about ministers from Republika Srpska in the Free Movement Agreement?

There is no official explanation why the discussion was postponed before the Bosnia and Herzegovina Council of Ministers on the Free Movement Agreement.

Elmedin Konakovic, minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Foreign Affairs, explained to REL that “with the case of the agenda agreement, has agreed that this point is not nearly”, without providing much explanation.

When one of the parties and we sometimes remove the points, there are no broader explanations of”, Konakovic said.

Zoran Tegeltija, a member of Milorad Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), is among the ministers from Republika Srpska to the BiH Council of Ministers.

It was Tegeltija, then chairman of the Council of Ministers, who on behalf of BiH, signed agreements in Berlin on mutual recognition of IDs, university diplomas and professional qualifications with five other Western Balkan countries.

Radio Free Europe has failed to contact Tegeltian, nor has it been answered by other ministers of Republika Srpska, why they rejected the Free Movement Agreement.

More details were revealed by Milorad Dodik, currently president of Republika Srpska and SNSD chairman who wrote on Twitter about the agreement.

With his post, Dodik has responded to European Parliament's Kosovo rapporteur Violet Von Cremon, who on March 1st, has called on SNSD leader to implement the signed agreement.

The Berlin Process is here to get people to move, work and trade freely in the Western Balkans. Blocking ratification and preventing Kosovo citizens from travelling freely is unacceptable. I call on Milorad Dodik to keep his word and ratify it! Such blockades impede the path of the European Union”, Von Croamon wrote.

Disappointing That No Deal

Muharem Nerjowe lives in Bihac, northwest Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1999.

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“I see that in Kosovo they have ratified that agreement, that Parliament approved it, and here in Bosnia we are still waiting. But, I think this is it, it might take a few more months, but they have to open up. It'll be easier, much easier, than running through embassies. I don't like running through those” embassies anymore, Nerjowa said.

On 23 February, the Kosovo Assembly has ratified the Free Movement Agreement with IDs.

And for Nerjowe's cousin Safet Tej, who lives in Prizren, Kosovo, it is a disappointment that Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet ratified the agreement, because it was an opportunity not to see his cousin only over the phone.

The greatest disappointment will be for people who have jobs and must move between these two countries. I think I'm disappointed, but not surprised. I know who they're dealing with. Only a major international pressure [can affect] otherwise this will never be realised”, Themey told Radio Free Europe.

Are there consequences for Bosnia and Herzegovina if it does not implement the Free Movement Agreement?

Elmedin Konakovic told Radio Free Europe that <x0document is under way”, but that “will be proposed again after there is political agreement for him”, and that he cannot understand why there is no political agreement for him.

Konakovic did not directly comment Dodik's statements, but stressed that these are not “tensions <x1nd> new but old ones that existed at the time Tegeltija signed the agreement on behalf of BiH.

“Agreements are initiated by all sides, I have spoken with my colleagues in Montenegro and Serbia, and I feel that all agree that the agreements reached must be implemented. In conversation with authorities in Serbia, we heard that this poses no problems for them and will implement these procedures that facilitate the movement of people in the Western Balkans area”, Konakovic said.

When asked if Bosnia and Herzegovina could have consequences if it does not implement the signed agreement, Konakovic noted that it “does not know” and added that BiH certainly appears to be “not serious”.

“In the eyes of the international public, I can say that we're sometimes really funny exactly about such situations. We sat down, talked, reached some agreements, initiated them, and then one of the parties withdrew and did not want to implement it. We're not serious. I think by doing so, we are damaging the reputation of all levels of governance in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that Bosnian citizens do not benefit from this”, Konakovic said.

Free Europe Radio has asked the European Union delegation to BiH if Bosnia is jeopardising the agreement signed for free movement with IDs in the Western Balkans and whether the outcome could be met with sanctions. But until the publication of this text, no answers have been given.

To begin implementing the signed agreement, documents are needed to be ratified by the parliaments of the respective countries within 18 months.

Before signing in November, Serbia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo agreed on agreements in October 2022, after weeks of German-led negotiations.