DIPLOMATIC AND LEGAL STRUGGLE FOR KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

„He who fights can lose, but he who fights not has already lost“ –  B. Brecht

I hate it most when someone says “let it go, it’s not worth the struggle, it´s lost anyway”. This is most often when I begin story about need of struggle for Kosovo and Metohija through diplomatic means and all other legitimate resources. Everyone willing, can achieve a lot, but has to have a vision, to see a certain path and to know how to do it. No matter how Kosovo might seem lost today, sold or rife with phenomenon of treason, I consider and believe one should always fight with honesty and honor because only lost things are those we renounce ourselves. The story about Kosovo and Metohija in this sense can be seen as personification of life, because in life, everything is in the struggle, dedication, tenacity and with a dose of wisdom and bravery, not to say fury, but still nothing is impossible.

I was inspired to write this text by the act of the embassy of Federal Republic of Germany in Pristina. Few days ago, official page of this embassy published that in the process for visa issuance, embassy of Germany will not accept those passports issued by “Coordination Authority” of the Republic of Serbia, although, up to now individual with that type of Serbian passport was able to request visa from embassies in Pristina. Majority of EU member states with embassies in Pristina follow this practice. For those who don’t know, all citizens living in Kosovo and Metohija can receive passports of Serbia, but in which states “Coordination Authority” for issuing institution, and which differ from passports in the rest of Serbia because with these you still need visa to travel into EU countries. Despite citizens of Serbia can travel the Schengen without visas since 2009, there is regulation from the Serbian Government dating from the September of the same year, as well as EU Council regulation to prevents citizens from Kosovo and Metohija from possessing biometric passports needed for visa free access to Schengen zone. Those wishing to get Serbian passport must travel to Belgrade to receive it, while visa can be obtained in Belgrade or Pristina.

According to this legal act, in a political sense, Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija are collateral damage of all those Albanians in possession or who have right on these passports of Serbia, through which use they could, using no visa zone, plea for asylum in the EU or carry out acts falling under domain of organized crime, but still able to refer to the state of Serbia. On the other hand, on the official page of the German embassy in Belgrade one can find completely contradictory instruction directing all citizens with passports issued by the “Coordination Authority” to submit requests for visa in the Pristina German embassy. I captured this very strange and contradictory diplomatic decision by one serious state and shared it on my Facebook profile. Same thing was noticed by some media, amongst them first was “Kossev” whose journalist even called the embassy, where she received confirmation on this decision.

The most interesting part comes afterwards and is for sure not appropriate to Federal Republic of Germany, which I always observed as serious state in diplomatic and organizational sense. Just today, by chance, I visited the site of the German embassy in Pristina again, and now completely different text can be found under the same section and title “5. Serbian Passports”. This time it states that embassy in Pristina after all is still responsible for the processing of the visa requests.

So, it is obvious that German embassy changed its decision in only a couple of days. I was mostly surprised by their unprofessionalism, even more than their wish to force Serbs living in Serbian autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija to get passports of the false and self – proclaimed state of Kosovo in this manner. I have to admit that it’s not usual that you can see every day examples as such, when Germany “covers itself in ashes”. Furthermore, I would like to point out that this proves once again that our struggle is worth the effort, even with these little steps.

If one serious embassy approaches to these subjects with hollow interest and frivolity, I wonder what other holes are lurking in the pages of the Brussels Agreement and all other acts which serve only to seize basic human rights, on a daily basis, from the Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija. I believe it is final time for educated and erudite people, intellectuals and professionals to leave their lairs and join together their individual efforts in research of these subjects and cases, so it could serve in creation of further smaller victories, no matter how intensively some might claim it to be of no importance. Bring the Germany to its knees, even in this manner, still demonstrates how there is some hope for a struggle which we might lose, but in which we are not defeated in advance.

• Belgrade
• embassy
• EU
• Germany
• Kosovo i Metohija
• passport
• Priština
• Serbia
• visa