Stevic: Law on foreigners a major problem for those without Kosovo documents

Journalist Lazar Stevic told Kosovo Online that the implementation of the Law on Foreigners will create major problems for people who do not have Kosovo documents, and that it will most severely affect employees of institutions that are not integrated into the Kosovo system, as well as students.

Stevic emphasized that, apart from the information that the deadline for implementing the law has been extended until 15 January, there are no other notifications regarding how and in what manner the law will be applied.

“We still have no information on whether this will really be applied as of 15 January or whether some model is being sought to extend the deadline, because this creates a truly major problem, especially for those people who still do not have Kosovo documents but hold ID cards issued by police administrations in Pristina, Kosovska Mitrovica, Pec, and other cities in Kosovo. There are also many who came from central Serbia to live here in Kosovo and who were unable to obtain Kosovo documents,” Stevic said.

He believes that it is necessary to find a concrete solution and that the international community must be involved.

“A concrete solution needs to be found that will benefit those people who will be in enormous trouble if the Law on Foreigners enters into force on 15 January, because they will have to register at a police station upon every entry and state why they have come—whether for tourism, work, marriage, family reunification, or any other reason. I believe that, above all, the international community should become involved in this issue and that it should be resolved through dialogue in Brussels,” Stevic stressed.

According to him, the implementation of the Law on Foreigners will most severely affect employees in institutions that are not integrated into the Kosovo system—education, healthcare, and the university.

“This will be a major blow to all three institutions which are, so to speak, the pillars of the stay and survival of Serbs in these areas. Healthcare, education, the university—we know how many professors travel from central Serbia to teach here. This will therefore be a major problem primarily for those people, but also for those who have lived here for years and have not been able to obtain Kosovo documents. The biggest problem will be faced by people who travel; they will be the first to be targeted. Above all, they will somehow have to find a way, as required by the law, to provide proof of where they work and in which institutions, and we all know that healthcare, education, and even the university are not integrated into the Kosovo system, so the question arises as to whether the Kosovo Police will accept the certificates they submit,” Stevic added.

As he noted, in addition to personal documents, license plates also represent a major problem.

“We know that it has also been announced that driving on authorization will no longer be possible. There are several measures that could be introduced—allowing re-registration or arranging insurance, as was previously done for RKS plates entering central Serbia, with insurance paid on an annual basis. This would solve a major problem for all those who drive vehicles with license plates from cities in central Serbia,” Stevic said.