Despotovic Vuletic: Acceptance of Serbian documents in Kosovo will enable Serbs to exercise numerous rights

Smiljana Despotovic Vuletic, a lawyer from North Mitrovica, tells Kosovo Online that Serbs will be able to access a wide range of rights following the decision by Kosovo’s Ministry of Internal Affairs to allow citizens registered in the Serbian system to apply for the registration of their data in Kosovo’s Central Civil Status Register.

“I believe that by recognizing Serbian documents and registering individuals in Kosovo’s civil registry, Serbs will be able to exercise numerous rights. This includes social benefits such as old-age pensions, disability benefits, social assistance, and child allowances,” she said.

The previous situation, she noted, brought numerous challenges.

“People married within the Serbian system could not claim any rights under the Kosovo system because they were required to obtain Kosovo documents and have their marriage recognized by Kosovo institutions and laws. This led to situations where long-married couples had to establish paternity for their children. The very fact that Kosovo institutions demanded and required this is problematic. Something that has existed for years, recorded in the Serbian system, under which individuals have exercised their rights as parents, had to be practically discarded so they could remarry under the Kosovo system to claim any rights there,” she explained.

She says she cannot provide an exact number of Serbs who were unable to obtain Kosovo documents but believes the number was significant.

“This issue persists to this day, with Serbs often waiting many years to exercise their rights, such as obtaining Kosovo documents, passports, or being registered in their system,” Despotovic Vuletic noted.