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Your excellency,
I write to You at the request of my client Mr. Haki Emini with the
goal to bring to Your attention the difficulties that many ethnic
Albanians from Southern Serbia are facing in Kosovo due to the
policies of the Kosovo and Serbian governments, specifically those
that are brought about due to the failure of these governments to
fully implement the French-German Agreement and the Ohrid Agreement
from 2023.
Namely, due to Kosovo's standing policy of reciprocity, its
government does not recognize any documents issued by Serbian
authorities unless they recognize those same documents when they are
issued by Kosovo.
As a result of this policy Kosovo does not recognize passports
issued by Serbian authorities but it does recognize Serbian personal
ID cards. Serbian nationals who wish to enter Kosovo need to show a
valid personal ID card.
This puts ethnic Albanians from Southern Serbia - many of whom have
friends, families and business ties in Kosovo - in a uniquely
difficult situation.
As these people have been cleared from the registry of citizens with
permanent residence in Serbia through various questionable means,
which are in and of themselves a different issue altogether, they
can't be issued personal ID cards. They can, however, be issued
passports since they don't require a registered permanent residence
by the bearer.
Unfortunately, the paradox of their particular situation is lost on
Kosovo authorities, as their standing policies deny these people
entry into Kosovo - even though they bear an internationally valid
travel document and are through no fault of their own denied
personal ID cards by Serbia which are the only documents with which
they are allowed to enter Kosovo.
I have attempted to, on behalf of Mr. Emini, communicate this
untenable situation to the Kosovo authorities, the Kosovo public and
even PM Kurti himself, but those calls to resolve this issue have
fallen on deaf ears.
Your excellency,
This treatment of ethnic Albanians from Southern Serbia by Kosovo is
emblematic of the impasse in which the talks between Kosovo and
Serbia have found themselves in. Neither side seems to recognize
this issue as something that needs to be addressed and the people
who are affected by their obstinance suffer for it.
Moreover, this constitutes a direct breach of Article 1 of the
French-German plan which explicitly states that both Kosovo and
Serbia shall mutually recognize relevant documents issued by the
other - passports chiefly among them!
We humbly ask that You, within Your competences - as EU emissary for
the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia - stand up for these people
who's people and governments have failed them and be their voice
that reaches the ears of those who pay them no heed and who show no
concern for their situation.
Respectfully and with best regards,
Luka M. Jovanovich, attorney to Mr. Haki Emini |
