Belgrade: We do not have to ask Pristina for permission to go to Kosovo
Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic has stated that the ministry has no contacts with the Kosovo government, and even less so any need to ask them for permission to go to Kosovo.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, February 23, 2009
"For all visits and stay in Kosovo Serbian government representatives address UNMIK or EULEX, as the only legitimate international missions in the province, which is currently under a U.N. protectorate, according to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244," Minister Bogdanovic said.
Bogdanovic said that the authorities in Belgrade and the vast majority of the Kosovo Serbs do not accept institutions of the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo, which is why there is no reason for anyone from the Serbian government to ask, directly or indirectly, Pristina for a permission to go to Kosovo.
"They may not prohibit us from entering, and no one will observe their possible prohibition," underscored Oliver Ivanovic, Serbia's State Secretary for Kosovo.
Ivanovic said that he is afraid that "this, actually, is a beginning of a conflict which Kosovo Albanians are causing intentionally, aiming at diverting the attention of their own public from the grave economic situation."
He clarified that Serbian officials address UNMIK when they travel to Kosovo but not to ask for permission but to request escort, "because they feel unsafe during their visits to Serbian enclaves and, generally, to the Serbian community."
