Gogic: The Law on Foreigners also affects the monastic community and clergy of the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren

Political scientist Ognjen Gogic pointed out that the Law on Foreigners, which according to announcements from Pristina will enter into force on March 15, also affects the monastic community and clergy of the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren.

“Priests serve in churches, but they have families as well, meaning wives and children who are also from Serbia and reside with them in Kosovo, as well as monks in monasteries in general. They are mostly citizens of Serbia or of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Therefore, all of them become foreigners under the implementation of that law,” Gogic told Kosovo Online.

As he added, despite the fact that they have lived in Kosovo for years or decades, they will now have to regulate their status in accordance with the Law on Foreigners.

Regarding the Law on Foreigners, the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren also reacted yesterday, stating that a rigid and hasty implementation of the rules, without a clear transitional regime and without feasible procedures for larger groups of people, could lead to unforeseeable consequences. It called on all relevant authorities to demonstrate responsibility and, through dialogue and practical solutions, avoid any implementation that would have a negative and discriminatory effect on the Serbian community.