Kosovo residents can apply for new Serbian biometric passports in Belgrade
Kosovo residents can now apply for new Serbian passports and ID cards like all other citizens, but will have to do so in Belgrade, Serbia's Kosovo ministry said.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, September 22, 2009
"Everyone who lives in Kosovo, and who hasn't applied for a passport or personal identification card, will have to do so at the police coordination department in Belgrade, and the procedure is the same as it is for all other citizens," State Secretary for Kosovo Oliver Ivanovic said.
Asked whether this meant that citizens from Kosovo would be able to travel without visas to countries of the European Union after January 1, Ivanovic said that this only meant that they would receive biometric passports.
"I think that an agreement will still need to be reached in the coming period with EU officials and Brussels," he said.
One of the European Commission's conditions for abolishing visas for Serbian citizens is the implementation of new procedures for issuing passports to people living in Kosovo.
However, it is still unclear whether these people will be able to enjoy the privileges of the white Schengen list next year.
