Elshani: Full implementation of the law on foreigners and vehicles begins tomorrow

Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police for the Northern Region, Veton Elshani, told Kosovo Online that full implementation of a previously adopted order of the Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs will begin tomorrow. Under this order, driving a vehicle on the basis of an authorization (power of attorney) will be treated as a traffic offense, as will the application of the Law on Foreigners.

Regarding the Law on Vehicles, Elshani explained that this concerns the enforcement of a procedure that was supposed to enter into force on 1 November last year, but whose implementation was postponed until 15 January.

Elshani emphasized that the new rules do not mean a blockade of the north, but rather the sanctioning of those who do not have proper documentation, noting that the aim is not punishment but the introduction of order into the system and the registration of persons who stay in Kosovo for extended periods.

“What I can say is that we do not have any new order to further postpone this measure that we already had. It was supposed to start on 1 November last year, but we extended it until 15 January based on an order from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And tomorrow, from 8 a.m. or from midnight, it will begin to be treated as a traffic offense. For example, when we talk about authorization, it will be a traffic offense. This means that a police officer can stop a person on the street; one person may proceed to where he needs to go, while another will be fined 200 euros because he does not have an authorization,” Elshani said.

He explained that this is a regular police procedure.

“It is nothing drastic; we will not block the north, there will be no problems such as confiscating vehicles. It is more about people learning that driving on authorization is no longer allowed. But when I talk about vehicles driven on authorization, that means that a Serb from Kosovo cannot drive a vehicle from Serbia on the basis of an authorization. However, if a Serb from Kosovo also has documents from Serbia, then he can drive on authorization,” Elshani clarified.

The Law on Foreigners has existed for a long time, Elshani said, adding that its enforcement will simply begin tomorrow.

“It is a very simplified process. This means that a person can come, for example, if you are coming to study here, we need to know that you entered Kosovo and that you will be staying here for a longer period. That means you come to a police station and say: I am Veton Elshani, I study here and I live at this address. That’s it. Then it becomes a different process for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where the person needs to obtain short-term residence and then receive documents, and so on. For us, it is important that people are in the system. If you are coming, for example, as part of an organized group and want to visit churches, that is not a problem at all—people do not even need to come to us because they are already announced at the border,” Elshani explained.

If someone comes to Kosovo and plans to stay longer, they need to register themselves at a police station, or be registered by the family member with whom they are staying. According to Elshani, this procedure is greatly simplified and there will be no deportations if a person registers in accordance with the given instructions.

“We have people who hold documents issued in Kosovo—Police Administration Kosovska Mitrovica, Gnjilane, Pec—and who have not been able to obtain Kosovo documents. That represents a problem, but since there is no solution for those people, we will not touch that category. For example, in a case where a mother has four children, we will not separate a mother from her children or vice versa. But for us, it is important to know where those people are—nothing more,” Elshani concluded.