Kosovo has rejected the request for a visit from the Serbian Minister of Information and Telecommunications, Dejan Ristiq, in retaliation for a similar decision made by Belgrade.
The news was confirmed by Qëndresa Fazliu from the Communications Office at the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MPJD) to Radio Free Europe.
This decision comes after actions taken by the Government of Serbia to refuse the visits of most senior officials from the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, especially those planned for the regions of Presheva, Medvegja, and Bujanovc. This stance has been further intensified in recent months, in contradiction with the Brussels Agreement on Official Visits, Fazliu explained.
The MPJD stated that Ristiq had requested to visit Kosovo from December 24 to 26.
Earlier, on December 25, the MPJD also announced that Serbia had rejected the request of Kosovo’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, for a two-day visit to municipalities in southern Serbia, predominantly inhabited by Albanians.
Sveçla was scheduled to visit Presheva, Medvegja, and Bujanovc on December 23 and 24 to meet with representatives of the National Council of Albanians in the Presheva Valley.
The MPJD explained that the request was rejected despite following the proper procedures for official visits as outlined in the Brussels Agreement.
“As a pretext for the refusal, Serbia cited the positions and actions of Minister Sveçla, 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 ministry’s statement said.
Earlier this year, in January, Serbia had also rejected Sveçla’s request to visit Presheva, Medvegja, and Bujanovc, areas commonly referred to as the Presheva Valley.
The MPJD noted that in the past two years, Serbia has regularly rejected visits by senior Kosovar government officials, including the most recent refusal of a visit planned by the Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports, Hajrulla Çeku, on December 19.
The MPJD also reported that Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gërvalla, had been denied participation in the annual reception for Kosovo’s Independence Day organized by Kosovo’s Liaison Office in Serbia on February 27. This visit was refused “without any valid justification and just hours before Ms. Gërvalla was to arrive at the border crossing.”
“These actions by the Government of Serbia are clearly aimed at maintaining high tensions with the Republic of Kosovo. They are part of the ongoing provocations regularly conducted by Serbia with the goal of causing conflicts, with the terrorist acts in Banjska and the Ibër-Lepenc area being the most prominent manifestation of these intentions by Serbia,” the MPJD concluded.
