Kosovo talks: Liaison offices to issue visit permits

Kosovo talks: Liaison offices to issue visit permits

Starting December 1, these permits, allowing Serbian officials to travel to Kosovo and Kosovo officials to travel to the rest of Serbia, will no longer be obtained through the intermediary - EU's offices in Belgrade and Priština, but directly via the liaison officers. This was agreed last Friday in Brussels during technical negotiations between Belgrade and Priština.

Pavićević "claims that all of this is not the first step towards the establishment of diplomatic relations with Priština, as some diplomats in Brussels have assessed," the paper writes.

He said the move instead represented "de-bureaucratization of the current procedure dating back to 2009 in order to avoid frequent bans on trips of officials of Serbia to Kosovo." Pavićević also "explained that, according to the new procedure, Serbian officials will not ask for permissions, but will register their visits for security reasons."

Asked by the paper "why such procedure was necessary if Kosovo and Metohija is a part of Serbia under the Constitution," Pavićević noted that "a special regime has been in force in Kosovo since 1999 in line with (UNSC) Resolution 1244". The daily then asked "why Belgrade is not turning to UNMIK but to Priština," to which he replied that "things have changed in the meantime."

According to him it was agreed on Friday in Brussels that the regime of freedom of movement, which has so far included two border crossings between Serbia and Croatia and Hungaria, as well as Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport, will expand to six other crossings.

Pavićević argues that the move does not mean that passports of the self-proclaimed "state of Kosovo" will be recognized, "because citizens travel with ID cards and documents on entry and exit." When the paper noted that the identity cards in question are issued by the "in Serbia unrecognized state of Kosovo" Pavićević said this is "a result of the agreement on freedom of movement between Belgrade and Priština from 2011".

Political analyst Dušan Janjić however, thinks that "this is the first step in the establishment of diplomatic relations between Belgrade and Priština," and adds:

"It is the realization of a broader idea about a so-called Balkan Benelux. These arrangements are in the framework of facilitating freedom of movement between Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. So far, the communication regarding the visits of Serbian and Kosovo officials went through EULEX, which is being slowly shut down. Now the two governments will be agreeing on this through liaison officers."

This analyst went on to tell the daily that "the liaison offices will evolve into embassies and that "in 10 to 15 (sic) there will be an exchange of ambassadors, which means recognition of Kosovo's independence, which will come after the signing of a legally binding document."

Under the previous agreement between Brussels, Belgrade and Priština, which will be in force until December 1, Serbian officials received permission to travel to Kosovo "via EU's missions in Belgrade and Priština, from the Kosovo government," writes the paper and adds they "never wanted to admit this publicly," and "mostly called out EULEX" when their visits were banned. "Some Serbian officials remain silent also about special KPS unit Rosa providing them escort and protection on the ground," said the article.

Former ambassador to Germany Ivo Visković told the daily that the agreement does not represent establishment of "diplomatic, but rather of para, or quasi diplomatic relations that exist between entities that do not recognize each other as independent states, but feel the need to cooperate."

"We had an example of the kind with Croatia during the conflict of the breakup of Yugoslavia. Croatia had a bureau in Belgrade as did the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Zagreb. Accepting Kosovo documents does not mean automatic recognition of Kosovo's independence, it is more a gesture of good will. These exceptions can lead to establishment of diplomatic relations, but this now is more a demonstration of good will of Belgrade to make people's lives easier," said Visković.