Kosovo has rejected the request for a visit from the Serbian Minister for Information and Telecommunications, Dejan Ristić, as a response to a similar decision taken by Belgrade.
This decision comes after the actions of the Government of Serbia for the refusal to allow the visits of the majority of the high representatives of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, especially the visits that are intended to be carried out in Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanoc, this attitude has become even tougher during the last months and in violation of the Brussels Agreement on official visits.
The MPJD said that Ristiq had requested to stay in Kosovo from December 24 to 26.
Earlier on December 25, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Serbia has rejected the request of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Kosovo, Xelal Sveçla, to conduct a two-day visit to the municipalities in the south of Serbia, inhabited by Albanians.
Sveçla was scheduled to stay in Presevo, Medvegja and Bujanoc on December 23 and 24 to meet with representatives of the National Council of Albanians of the Valley.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the request was rejected even though the procedures foreseen for such visits under the Brussels Agreement on official visits were followed.
"As a pretext for rejection, the positions and actions of Minister Svečla have been emphasized, which, according to the Government of Serbia, are directed against the Serbian community in the Republic of Kosovo, as well as against normalization, peace and stability," the announcement said.
In January of this year, Serbia also rejected the request for Sweden to stay in Presevo, Medvegja and Bujanoc, municipalities also known as the Presevo Valley.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in the last two years, Serbia has regularly refused the visits of senior government officials of Kosovo, mentioning here the last visit that was planned to take place by the Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku on December 19.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said that the head of this ministry, Donika Gërvalla, was refused participation in the annual celebration of Kosovo's independence that was organized by the Liaison Office of Kosovo in Serbia on February 27 and, according to this institution, the visit was refused "without any valid reasoning and a few hours before Ms. Gërvalla to reach the border point".
"Such actions of the Government of Serbia have the clear purpose of maintaining tensions with the Republic of Kosovo at a high level. They are part of the continuous provocations, which Serbia does on a regular basis and with the aim of causing conflicts, where the terrorist acts in Banjska and Ibër-Lepenc are the most visible manifestation of these intentions on the part of Serbia", said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here.
Even Kosovo has rejected requests for visits to Kosovo by Serbian officials. In May of this year, Western countries criticized Kosovo after it did not allow the Serbian patriarch, Porfirije, and several other priests to visit Kosovo.
The request for a visit was also rejected in May by the head of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, Petar Petkovic.
The issue of official visits between Kosovo and Serbia is regulated through an agreement reached within the dialogue for the normalization of relations, which is mediated by the European Union. These visits must be announced through the liaison officers of Kosovo and Serbia. However, the authorities of the respective countries must authorize them. REL (A2 Televizion)
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