Antonijevic: Mutual bans on visits of a political nature

Legal expert Milan Antonijevic believes that the mutual bans on visits by officials from Serbia and Kosovo are purely political and do not involve any security risks. According to him, these bans harm Serbs in Kosovo because they feel insecure and unable to have politicians and public figures from Belgrade with them in moments that pose no security threats whatsoever.

He suggests that the normalization of relations, including visits, should occur in 2024.

"The bans are still political; I really don't see any security risks there. We all reacted when the Patriarch was banned from coming to Kosovo, but later his enthronement took place without any security or other problems. This shows that a change in policy is possible in a short period, and Kosovo authorities do not follow the practices they used before, whether it's related to the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, public figures, or someone from political life," Antonijevic says for Kosovo Online.

Although an agreement on visits by officials was reached in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue as early as 2014, which is not respected in practice, Antonijevic says that even the most significant agreement regarding the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities is not being respected.

"Agreements from previous years, including that from 2014, are not being respected, just like the one concerning the most significant issue, which is the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities, and consequently, neither are other agreements that are not as significant for the Serbian community in the north, such as visits by politicians or negotiators. It is necessary as a prerequisite to gaining trust. That word somehow hasn't been seen in the relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and it is gained through contacts, the ability to say the toughest things at the negotiating table, to discuss incidents, the endangerment of Serbs in Kosovo, property rights, and everything that matters most. I think that the barrier that exists must be lifted, to the joy of both the Serbian and Albanian populations, who deserve to live in a region with no security risks and no further signs of conflict," Antonijevic said.