Freedom of movement deal covers Belgrade airport

Freedom of movement deal covers Belgrade airport

The agreement was made in Brussels on Tuesday and will allow those with personal identification cards, but not passports, issued by the provisional authorities in Priština to cross the border at a number of additional places while in transit, he told a news conference.

These are the crossings at the Belgrade airport and a number of others, he pointed out, adding that people with identification papers issued by the Kosovo authorities had already been able to cross at other points along the border with Hungary and Croatia while in transit.

"This will include Bulgaria and Macedonia in two months, once the technical requirements are met," he explained.

This does not require any other identification papers except those issued by Serbia while in Serbia's territory, he noted.

The situation is perfectly clear in terms of identification papers, because Serbian citizens use Serbian passports in Serbia, weather they come from Kosovo or not, he explained.

"Kosovo is run by provisional authorities and they have been issuing various forms of identification documents since 1999, including UNMIK personal IDs and now those issued by the provisional government in Priština," Đurić said.

Those with those papers have so far been able to use two border crossings, one leading to Hungary and the other to Croatia, and now they will be able to use those IDs, "and not the passports of some self-proclaimed country of Kosovo," to cross the border at a number of other places as well, he noted.

It is an extension to the freedom of movement agreement that will allow for more traffic at the Belgrade airport and could lead to a normal air traffic between Belgrade and Priština in the future, he remarked.

When asked why he was referring to the Kosovo institutions as provisional and the government as provincial, when the latest election in Kosovo had not followed Serbian laws, he replied that he was following the Serbian Constitution.

"We use the terminology prescribed by our Constitution, which sees Kosovo solely as an autonomous province within Serbia, and that is the policy we maintain and believe in," he stated.

It is no secret to the public in Serbia and Kosovo and the international community that the stances of Belgrade and Priština are completely opposite in terms of Kosovo's status, he added.

"The basis of these talks is not for us to focus on the things on which we have opposing views, but to solve those problems that can lead to a better life for our people in Kosovo," he concluded.