To: Ms. Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs
CC: Ms. Martine Deprez, Secretary-General of the European Commission;
Ms. Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Blanchet, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union
Mr. Tom\u00e1\u0161 Szunyog, Head of EU Office in Kosovo\/EU Special Representative.
Prishtina, November 21, 2023
Dear Commissioner Ms. Johansson,
As activists and members of civil society in Kosovo, we are writing to express our deep concern about
the European Commission\u2019s proposal to the Council of the European Union, COM (2023) 733, regarding
amendments to Regulation (EU) 2018\/1806 as regards holders of Serbian passports issued by the
Serbian Coordination Directorate (Koordinaciona uprava). The reasoning behind this proposal was to
ensure that this group of citizens does not remain the only ones in the Western Balkans who will not
enjoy visa-free movement in the Schengen Zone.
Your proposal comes at a time when there has been a significant increase of Kosovo Serb citizens
applying for Kosovo passports, thereby exercising their rights guaranteed by the Constitution and
relevant legislation. Moreover, Kosovo institutions, in collaboration with security institutions such as
KFOR and EULEX, are committed to maintain a safe environment for all citizens, especially the Serbian
community in the northern part of Kosovo. These efforts are part of the joint initiative of these
institutions to dismantle criminal structures present in northern part of Kosovo for years, which have
forcefully hindered any attempts by Kosovo Serb citizens to integrate into the social and political life
of Kosovo. The enhanced security measures for Kosovo Serb citizens and EU facilitated agreements
between Kosovo and Serbia have led to the increase in Kosovo Serbs obtaining Kosovo documents,
including passports and vehicle plates. This trend is a promising and very positive development for the
return to normalcy in the northern part of the country.
On the other hand, all EU mediated agreements between Kosovo and Serbia, including those from
2013 and 2015, and the recent 2023 agreements, along with the technical criteria of the Visa
Liberalization process, unequivocally recognize Kosovo authorities as the sole legitimate issuer of
passports for all Kosovo citizens. This includes the responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of data of
passport holders, obligations for repatriation, and other responsibilities within this framework.
If approved, this proposal will have several adverse effects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To: Ms. Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs CC: Ms. Martine Deprez, Secretary-General of the European Commission;Ms. Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Blanchet, Secretary-General of the Council of the European UnionMr. Tom\u00e1\u0161 Szunyog, Head of EU Office in Kosovo\/EU Special Representative. Prishtina, November 21, 2023 Dear Commissioner Ms. Johansson, As activists and members of civil society in Kosovo, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12302,"parent":0,"menu_order":315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","news-category":[],"class_list":["post-12312","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n