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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Petković barred from entering Kosovo and Metohija

Belgrade, 3 May 2024

The Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated today that the authorities in Priština, led by Albin Kurti, barred Office Director Petar Petković from being with his people in Kosovo and Metohija for the biggest Orthodox holiday.

The statement says that Petković planned to attend the midnight liturgy in the Visoki Dečani monastery on Easter, and to attend the Easter service in the Gračanica monastery on Easter morning, and then to meet and knock on Easter eggs with children in the Draganac monastery.

Although the visit was exclusively of a religious nature and included exclusively visits to monasteries and sacred sites of the Serbian Orthodox Church, without any political intentions, the authorities in Priština banned his visit without any explanation.

For more than a year, Kurti has been preventing Director Petković from visiting Kosovo and Metohija and being with his people, and these prohibitions are not only without any basis, but also represent a direct violation of the agreement on freedom of movement and official visits, especially when it comes to the main negotiator of the Serbian side in the dialogue.

The Belgrade's Liaison Officer announced the vist of Director Petković to the temporary institutions in Priština on time and in accordance with all valid agreements, but Priština continues to unilaterally violate the agreements and cancel all achievements of the dialogue in Brussels.

For all its illegal and unilateral actions, Priština was awarded with the procedure for membership in the Council of Europe. The international community should now respond how the daily flagrant undermining of the normalisation of relations with Belgrade qualifies the so-called Kosovo for membership in this organisation, which should be based on respect for human rights and freedoms.