Nastic: Excluding Kosovo Serbs from visa liberalization is a farce and a shameful act of the EU

Zaklin Nastic, a member of Sahra Wagenknecht's movement in the German Bundestag, says for Kosovo Online that the exclusion of Serbs from the north from Kosovo's visa liberalization is a shameful act by the European Union and a farce regarding the respect for the rights of minority communities, which is why the Union should suspend this process.

"The decision that visa liberalization, which started on January 1 for Kosovo, does not apply to Serbs in the north is an unheard-of farce. For years, Pristina and the EU have tried to convince us that Kosovo protects and integrates its minorities in an appropriate way. It turned out to be a fairy tale, as evidenced by the attacks on the Serbian minority that have been going on for years. But the peak of absurdity: precisely this minority, which is supposedly so well protected, is excluded from visa liberalization. This is a shameful act by the EU that only further undermines the already fragile process of accession. I urge the EU to rectify this unprecedented decision," Nastic says.

According to her, this is a classic example of minority discrimination, but at the same time, she claims that it reveals the absurdity of the current situation.

"A critical look at the constitution of a state born out of NATO aggression shows all the absurdity of the current situation. According to Chapter 1, Article 1, paragraph 2 of the Constitution, Kosovo is a state of its citizens, based on respect for the human rights and freedoms of all its citizens. If these noble words about 'human rights and freedoms of their citizens' do not apply equally to everyone, then the entire document is nothing more than an empty promise. A state structure that reduces its own principles to absurdity," Nastic says.

When asked if she expects the European Parliament and the EU Council, as announced by the EU, to soon agree that visa liberalization also applies to Serbs who have passports issued by the Coordination Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia, Nastic says that visa liberalization should be suspended until a fair consensus is reached for all people living in Kosovo.

"It is unacceptable that the Serbian minority is discriminated against, while the Albanian majority benefits from liberalization. It must be clear: Serbs are equal citizens of this so-called state – which, it must be borne in mind, NATO seceded from Serbia in violation of international law through war – and they must be treated as such. The constitution of this state dictated by the West must equally apply to all citizens, otherwise, the so-called Western values of freedom, the rule of law, and equality will once again prove to be sheer hypocrisy," Nastic concludes.