Đelić: Schengen list by end of year

Bozidar Djelic says he believes Serbia will be on the white Schengen visa list by the end of the year. This would enable Serbian citizens to travel without visas to countries that signed the Schengen agreement. Djelic: Schengen list by end of year “The new, modern, biometric Serbian passport which opens the borders of the Schengen zone will be available to citizens by the end of May,” the deputy prime minister said, after meeting with the president of the panel for the “New Serbian Passport—New Face of Serbia” project, Biljana Stepanovic. Djelic said that the first 204 new passports would be distributed in late May to Serbia’s most prominent citizens. He called on citizens to nominate people for receiving the first Serbian passports and stressed that the point was not to issue famous people passports first, but to people who are not known to the public, who have done courageous and honorable things, and in that way stand out from the rest of the population. Djelic said that negotiations regarding visa liberalization with the European Commission had begun in January, and added that he expected Serbia to receive a list of criteria from Brussels in the next few weeks that would have to be completed in order for Serbia to enter the white Schengen list. “I am convinced that we will finish everything on time and without any problems,” said the deputy prime minister. He said that “Biljana Stepanovic is a national hero, because together with her husband, even though she did not have enough money, she fed her children and set them down the right track.” Stepanovic has fed and raised 38 children. She said that she was honored to have been chosen to be the panel president. She said that the most important criteria for receiving one of the first 204 passports would be humaneness. The panel president said that young people, students, and people who had not had the chance to travel much would benefit. The project is being implemented by the government with the goal of promoting the new travel documents, because Serbia will finally receive passports bearing its own state symbols for the first time in 90 years. The government, in cooperation with its media partners, RTS and daily Vecernje Novosti, called on citizens to nominate people from their cities, towns, villages or abroad, who they believed deserved to receive one of the first passports. Nominations are open until March 25, after which the panel will decide which 204 people will receive the new passports. Biljana Stepanovic heads the panel, which includes director of the German ARRI company Dejan Ilic, geneticist Miodrag Stojkovic, singer Zdravko Colic, and basketball star Aleksandar Djordjevic, along with RTS and Vecernje Novosti officials. The criteria for nominations for the first Serbian passports are honor, courage, important achievements in various fields, and educational achievements and promoting Serbia abroad. Bozidar Djelic (FoNet archive)

Đelić: Schengen list by end of year

“The new, modern, biometric Serbian passport which opens the borders of the Schengen zone will be available to citizens by the end of May,” the deputy prime minister said, after meeting with the president of the panel for the “New Serbian Passport—New Face of Serbia” project, Biljana Stepanović.

Đelić said that the first 204 new passports would be distributed in late May to Serbia’s most prominent citizens.

He called on citizens to nominate people for receiving the first Serbian passports and stressed that the point was not to issue famous people passports first, but to people who are not known to the public, who have done courageous and honorable things, and in that way stand out from the rest of the population.

Đelić said that negotiations regarding visa liberalization with the European Commission had begun in January, and added that he expected Serbia to receive a list of criteria from Brussels in the next few weeks that would have to be completed in order for Serbia to enter the white Schengen list.

“I am convinced that we will finish everything on time and without any problems,” said the deputy prime minister.

He said that “Biljana Stepanović is a national hero, because together with her husband, even though she did not have enough money, she fed her children and set them down the right track.”

Stepanović has fed and raised 38 children.

She said that she was honored to have been chosen to be the panel president. She said that the most important criteria for receiving one of the first 204 passports would be humaneness.

The panel president said that young people, students, and people who had not had the chance to travel much would benefit.

The project is being implemented by the government with the goal of promoting the new travel documents, because Serbia will finally receive passports bearing its own state symbols for the first time in 90 years.

The government, in cooperation with its media partners, RTS and daily Večernje Novosti, called on citizens to nominate people from their cities, towns, villages or abroad, who they believed deserved to receive one of the first passports.

Nominations are open until March 25, after which the panel will decide which 204 people will receive the new passports.

Biljana Stepanović heads the panel, which includes director of the German ARRI company Dejan Ilić, geneticist Miodrag Stojković, singer Zdravko Čolić, and basketball star Aleksandar Đorđević, along with RTS and Večernje Novosti officials.

The criteria for nominations for the first Serbian passports are honor, courage, important achievements in various fields, and educational achievements and promoting Serbia abroad.