Lucic: I am still banned from entering Kosovo and Metohija, I have initiated legal proceedings

Telekom Serbia CEO Vladimir Lucic said that he is still banned from entering Kosovo and that he has initiated legal proceedings, stressing that Pristina is discriminating against the company because it is Serbian, RTV reported.

In early August, Kosovo's Ministry of Internal Affairs declared Lucic persona non grata, a day after he visited an MTS d.o.o. branch in North Mitrovica. At the time, he announced that he would challenge the decision through all available legal means.

“That decision is completely unlawful. However, they made such decisions assuming that nobody would appeal. I did appeal and, interestingly, there is an institution to which I was required to submit my appeal within approximately 30 days. As a precaution, I also initiated court proceedings. The institution to which I had the right to appeal declared itself not competent, apparently trying to avoid dealing with the case, because it is clear that this so-called interior minister made the decision unlawfully. So it seems to me that they will be dragging this out in court for some six to twelve months,” Lucic said today, Tanjug reported.

He stressed that Pristina is, as he put it, discriminating against Telekom Serbia because it is a Serbian company, and against him personally because he is a Serb, RTV reported.

“How can anyone trust the political administration, regardless of what it signs, to actually follow through? Secondly, it is absolutely clear that they do not want any Serbian companies operating there, because, in practice, they are using their own laws manipulatively to make it more difficult for us to do business there,” Lucic pointed out.