"Official Belgrade continues to discriminate against Serbs from Kosovo", writes for KoSSev Ivana Vukašinović Jovanović a native of Leposavic who lives in Germany.
"Apart from the fact that they were denied the opportunity to take out the standard Serbian passports that are valid." visa liberalization", he continues, "this government prevents them from coming through Serbia to the European Union with Kosovo passports, with which it is possible to enter the Schengen zone without obtaining a visa from January."
Ivana Vukašinović Jovanović claims that travel agencies from Serbia are verbally prohibited from transporting passengers of Serbian nationality who have Kosovo passports to European Union countries.
Since 2009, when Serbia received visa liberalization, Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija have been denied access, since then they have been issued special passports of the Coordination Administration, for which the visa-free regime with the EU does not apply.
When Serbia discriminates against Serbs
And "due to the given circumstances, as well as the continuation of life in Kosovo, Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija are forced to use Kosovo documents. Especially now that visa liberalization has been granted to Kosovo, i.e. after the holders of the passports of the Coordination Administration remained the only Europeans who were denied the right to visa-free travel to the Schengen countries," writes Ivana Vukašinović Jovanović.
What happened to her mother, Dragana Vukašinović, a citizen of Serbia with a residence in Kosovo, shows the extent to which Serbs are disenfranchised and the extent to which their lives are difficult.
She planned to come to Germany to visit her daughter and grandchildren for the first time in five years. Due to the status of the passport issued by the Serbian Coordination Administration, she also took out a Kosovo passport for which she does not need a German visa. However, when she wanted to book a ticket through an agency from nearby Novi Pazar, she was told that they "are prohibited from doing so."
Ivana Vukašinović Jovanović spoke with the director of the agency Garo Reisen and the drivers of this agency Pejic Tours, both from Novi Pazar. It was directly confirmed to her that "they have a verbal order that they may not transport Albanians or Serbs traveling with a Kosovo passport."
She concludes that this is not only discrimination against persons of Albanian nationality, but also against Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija, which particularly shocked her, especially since they do not have the right to a Serbian passport.
And Albanians travel without problems through Serbia to the countries of the European Union, using the services of their own, Kosovo, trucking companies.
