{"id":7745,"date":"2025-07-28T11:59:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T11:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/normalization-of-the-non-normalization-of-personal-documents\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T11:59:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T11:59:55","slug":"normalization-of-the-non-normalization-of-personal-documents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/normalization-of-the-non-normalization-of-personal-documents\/","title":{"rendered":"Normalization of the Non-Normalization of Personal Documents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even after the “European solution” for identity cards within the framework of the dialogue to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia, there still remains a certain number of members of the Serbian community living and working in Kosovo who do not have the possibility to obtain Kosovo documents.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Written by: Ana Qup<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

It is known that since the creation of Kosovo\u2019s identity documents, which, as you may recall, transitioned from UNMIK-issued ID cards to those of Kosovo, the official authorities in Belgrade and the Serbian government did not recognize them. From the beginning of the Brussels Agreement, and later the Ohrid Agreement, it was always \u2018negotiated\u2019 that freedom of movement for citizens would be a priority, but it turned out not to be so. After many years, reciprocity was established regarding Serbian documents, and Serbia finally accepted those issued by Kosovo.<\/p>\n\n

Although the first Brussels Agreement was signed in 2011 by the then Prime Ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, Hashim Tha\u00e7i and Ivica Da\u010di\u0107, with the mediation of the then High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Catherine Ashton, it seems that after fourteen years since that agreement, there has been some easing but only for certain citizens.<\/p>\n\n

Then came the agreements of 2013 and 2015, where the main focus was the establishment of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities, through which the Serbian community, as a majority-minority community in Kosovo, would exercise certain rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Kosovo.<\/p>\n\n

Governments in Kosovo changed \u2014 from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, to the Democratic League of Kosovo, to the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo \u2014 but in the past four years, since the Vet\u00ebvendosje Movement came to power, it seems that more effort has been made to create difficulties for citizens than to bring relief.<\/p>\n\n

There is still a certain number of members of the Serb community who live and work in Kosovo but are unable to obtain Kosovo-issued documents. The only documents they possess are those issued by the Serbian system, referencing municipalities in Kosovo such as \u201cPU Pri\u0161tina,\u201d \u201cPU Kosovska Mitrovica,\u201d or \u201cPU Gnjilane.\u201d These documents are considered \u201cillegal\u201d by Kosovo institutions and are deemed invalid, leaving ordinary citizens restricted in their movement, fearing fines or even arrest for possessing \u201cillegal documents.\u201d At the same time, the very same authorities do not allow them to obtain Kosovo documents. There is also a fear that they might be deported from Kosovo even though their entire lives, families, and jobs are based here.<\/p>\n\n

Marijana Jovanovi\u0107 has been living in North Mitrovica since 2003. Her father was born in what was then called Tito\u2019s Mitrovica, which is still known as Mitrovica today, though now divided into South and North. Her mother was born in Gra\u010danica. Marijana\u2019s unfortunate circumstance is that she was born in Kraljevo in 1988 a city that belongs to the Ra\u0161ka district in Serbia.<\/p>\n\n

She completed part of her primary school in North Mitrovica, followed by high school and university. In that city, she got married, started a family, and found employment. To this day, she does not possess Kosovo-issued documents, despite having tried to obtain them for years.<\/p>\n\n

According to the administrative instruction signed in 2013 by the then Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo Jakup Krasniqi it was not possible to have dual citizenship for example Kosovo and Serbia and therefore dual documents. Members of the Serbian community did not want to give up Serbian citizenship at that time because as mentioned earlier Serbia did not recognize Kosovo documents and entering Serbia with Kosovo ID cards was not allowed. Later in 2021 when Kosovo\u2019s Prime Minister Albin Kurti introduced reciprocity for Serbian documents Serbia allowed entry with Kosovo documents and the Government of Kosovo promised to make it easier for non-majority communities to transition from Serbian to Kosovo documents not only ID cards but also driver\u2019s licenses. And this began but there are conditions that some citizens such as the aforementioned Marijana do not meet. Now dual citizenship is allowed but if you want to obtain Kosovo documents more specifically the citizenship extract \u2018Ekstrakt\u2019 you must provide proof that between 1990 and 1999 you had an ID issued by the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia registered in a municipality in Kosovo. Many people don\u2019t have this but instead possess school records workbooks and similar documents which the officials at the Civil Registration Centers cannot recognize because it must be a photo ID meaning an ID card or passport.<\/p>\n\n

Marijana Jovanovi\u0107 was a minor at that time and reached adulthood in 2006, so this rule does not apply to her. She was told that she had to obtain a residence permit for five years, and afterward they would check (they did not explain to her how) whether she had the right to citizenship. For the residence permit, she applied at the Migration Center in Pristina in 2019, and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and she did not return. Later, when the coronavirus pandemic ended, she was told that the previous residence permit lasted only six months and that she would have to do everything again from the beginning.<\/p>\n\n

The paradox in her case is that in the Serbian system she married a citizen of Kosovo in 2011, and she has a marriage certificate in the Kosovo system (for which her husband applied as soon as they got married and received it), her children have certificates with Kosovo citizenship because they were born in Kosovo, but she still has not been able to obtain personal documents after so many years.<\/p>\n\n

The new directive, as a facilitating circumstance, is valid from February until April 2025, allowing citizens who were born in Kosovo after 1999 to apply for Kosovo documents. This directive does not provide a solution for Marijana\u2019s problem, and there are many people like Marijana in Kosovo.<\/p>\n\n

A \u201cEuropean solution\u201d was reached, said in 2022 the then High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Joseph Borrell, adding that after nine days of negotiations in the Brussels dialogue, an agreement was reached on identity cards between Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. In practice, this agreement seems to be valid only for Kosovo and Serbia to recognize documents already issued, but there is still no solution for those who have only Serbian documents issued by police administrations of cities in Kosovo, which Kosovo institutions consider illegal.<\/p>\n\n

(The author is a journalist in the Municipality of Gra\u010danica. This publication was made possible within the framework of the project \u201cDialogue, Solution, Future,\u201d supported by the Federal Republic of Germany\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, implemented by the New Social Initiative (NSI) and the Musine Kokalari Institute for Social Policies. The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the Musine Kokalari Institute for Social Policies and the New Social Initiative. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even after the \u201cEuropean solution\u201d for identity cards within the framework of the dialogue for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, there still exists a certain number of members of the Serbian community who live and work in Kosovo, who do not have the possibility to obtain Kosovo documents.<\/p>\n

Written by: Ana Qup<\/p>\n

It is known that since the creation of Kosovo\u2019s identity documents, which, you may recall, transitioned from UNMIK-issued IDs to Kosovo-issued ones, official Belgrade and the government in Serbia did not recognize them. Since the beginning of the Brussels Agreement, and later the Ohrid Agreement, it was always \u2018negotiated\u2019 that freedom of movement of citizens was a priority, but it turned out that this was not the case. After many years, reciprocity was established regarding Serbian documents, and Serbia finally accepted Kosovo documents.<\/p>\n

Although since the first signing of the Brussels Agreement in 2011, which was then signed by the prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, Hashim Tha\u00e7i and Ivica Da\u010di\u0107, with the mediation of the then High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Catherine Ashton, it seems that after fourteen years from that agreement, there is some relief, but only for certain citizens.<\/p>\n

Later came the agreements of 2013 and 2015, which mostly discussed the establishment of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, where the Serbian community, as a minority-majority community in Kosovo, would exercise some rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Kosovo.<\/p>\n

Governments in Kosovo changed, from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, to the Democratic League of Kosovo, to the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, but in the last four years when the Movement Vet\u00ebvendosje took government, it seems more work has been done to create difficulties for citizens than to bring relief.<\/p>\n

There still remains a certain number of members of the Serbian community who live and work in Kosovo but cannot obtain Kosovo documents. The only documents they have are those from the Serbian system, where the cities in Kosovo are noted, such as \u2018PU Pri\u0161tina\u2019, \u2018PU Kosovska Mitrovica\u2019, or \u2018PU Gnjilane\u2019. These documents, the Kosovo institutions consider \u2018illegal\u2019, being invalid for them, and ordinary citizens are forced to move with caution, fearing fines or even arrests for possessing \u2018illegal documents\u2019, while the same authorities do not allow them to obtain Kosovo documents. There is also fear that they might be expelled from Kosovo, despite having their life, family, and work here.<\/p>\n

Marijana Jovanoviq has lived in North Mitrovica since 2003. Her father was born in the former Mitrovica of Tito, which is still called Mitrovica but now divided into South and North. Her mother was born in Gra\u010danica. Marijana\u2019s misfortune is that she was born in Kraljevo in 1988, a city belonging to the Ra\u0161ka district in Serbia.<\/p>\n

She completed part of her primary school in North Mitrovica, then high school and university. In that city, she married, started a family, and found work. Until today, she does not have Kosovo documents, and she has tried for years to obtain them.<\/p>\n

According to the administrative instruction signed in 2013 by the then Chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo, Jakup Krasniqi, it was not possible to have dual citizenship (e.g., Kosovo and Serbia), and consequently, dual documents. Members of the Serbian community did not want to give up Serbian citizenship at that time because, as noted earlier, Serbia did not recognize Kosovo documents, and entry to Serbia with Kosovo ID cards was impossible. Later, in 2021, when Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti imposed reciprocity on Serbian documents, Serbia allowed entry with Kosovo documents, and the Kosovo government promised to facilitate the transition for non-majority communities from Serbian documents to Kosovo ones, not only ID cards but also driver\u2019s licenses. This process started, but with conditions that some citizens, like the aforementioned Marijana, do not meet. Dual citizenship is now allowed, but if you want Kosovo documents, specifically the citizenship extract (\u2018Ekstrakt\u2019), you must attach evidence that during the period from 1990 to 1999 you had an ID card of the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia registered in a municipality in Kosovo. Many do not have this but have evidence from schools, work notebooks, and similar documents, which registration officials cannot recognize because it must be a photo document, meaning an ID card or passport.<\/p>\n

Marijana was a minor at the time; she reached adulthood in 2006, so this rule does not apply to her. She was told she had to obtain a five-year residence permit, and then they would check (they did not explain how) if she was entitled to citizenship. She applied for a residence permit at the Migration Center in Pristina in 2019, then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and she did not return. After the pandemic ended, she was told that the residence permit then lasted only six months and that she would have to do everything again from the beginning.<\/p>\n

The paradox in her case is that in the Serbian system, she married a Kosovo citizen in 2011, and she has a marriage certificate in the Kosovo system (for which her husband applied as soon as they married and received it), her children have certificates with Kosovo citizenship because they were born in Kosovo, but she still cannot obtain personal documents after so many years.<\/p>\n

The new instruction, as a mitigating circumstance, lasts from February until April 2025, allowing citizens born in Kosovo after 1999 to apply for Kosovo documents. This instruction does not solve Marijana\u2019s problem, and there are many people like her in Kosovo.<\/p>\n

\u201cA European solution was reached,\u201d said in 2022 the then High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the European Union, Joseph Borrell, adding that after nine days of negotiations in the Brussels dialogue, an agreement on identity cards was reached between Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. In practice, this agreement appears to be valid only for Kosovo and Serbia to recognize already issued documents, but there is still no solution for those who have only Serbian documents issued by police administrations of cities in Kosovo, which Kosovo institutions consider illegal.<\/p>\n

(The author is a journalist in the Municipality of Gra\u010danica. This publication was made possible within the project \u201cDialogue, Solution, Future,\u201d supported by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, implemented by the New Social Initiative (NSI) and the Musine Kokalari Institute for Social Policies. The content of this article is the exclusive responsibility of the Musine Kokalari Institute for Social Policies and the New Social Initiative. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7745"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7746,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745\/revisions\/7746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}