Serbia has refused to allow a visit by Kosovo’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, to the Presheva Valley, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in a statement.
The MFA said that despite following “all necessary procedures for such official visits by government and state representatives of the Republic of Kosovo to Serbia under the Brussels Agreement on Official Visits,” Sveçla was not permitted to travel there.
“On December 23 and 24, 2024, Minister Xhelal Sveçla planned an official one-day visit to the Presheva Valley, including the municipalities of Medvegja and Bujanovc. As part of this visit, Minister Sveçla intended to meet with representatives of the National Council of the Albanians of the Presheva Valley (NCAPV), starting with the representatives of the NCAPV office in Medvegja, continuing in Bujanovc at the NCAPV headquarters, and then in Presheva, at the NCAPV branch office for that municipality. Despite following all procedures for official visits by government and state representatives of the Republic of Kosovo to Serbia as stipulated by the Brussels Agreement on Official Visits, the Government of Serbia refused the request for this visit. The refusal was based on the Minister Sveçla’s positions and actions, which, according to the Government of Serbia, are directed against the Serbian community in the Republic of Kosovo, as well as against normalization, peace, and stability,” the statement reads.
The MFA also noted that “the Government of Serbia has regularly refused visits by high-level officials from the Republic of Kosovo over the past two years, especially when it comes to visits to the Presheva Valley, Medvegja, and Bujanovc.”
“In addition to Minister Sveçla’s visit, regular refusals have also occurred for visits by other members of the Kosovo government cabinet. The most recent was the refusal of a visit by the Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports, Hajrulla Çeku, which was scheduled for December 19, 2024.”
“Furthermore, the visit of Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gërvalla, initially scheduled for February 27, 2024, to attend the Reception for the Anniversary of Kosovo’s Independence, organized by the Kosovo Liaison Office in Serbia, was also refused without valid justification just hours before Minister Gërvalla was set to arrive at the border crossing,” the statement continued.
The MFA concluded that such actions by the Government of Serbia “aim to maintain high tensions with the Republic of Kosovo.”
“These are part of the ongoing provocations regularly carried out by Serbia with the aim of causing conflicts, where the terrorist acts in Banjska and the Ibër-Lepenc region represent the most visible manifestations of these intentions by Serbia,” the statement concluded.
