Acting Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, has announced that the law on foreigners and the law on vehicles will come into effect from January 16th.
As he wrote on Facebook, in the first phase of implementation, visitors entering border crossings will be provided with informational material about specific procedures and rules. This period will last until March 15.
After this, according to Bislim, full implementation of the law will begin.
Bislimi also said that this period should be used to begin the process of substantive integration of the health and education systems.
"The Government of the Republic of Kosovo announces that this period of affirmative action should be used to the fullest extent to begin the process of substantive integration of the health and education systems throughout the country," he wrote on Facebook.
also
Implementation of the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Vehicles begins, fines for violators from March
The law stipulates that all those who do not possess Kosovo documents will have to apply for a residence permit within 72 hours. The measures are expected to mainly affect the Serb community living in the north and who have so far used vehicles with license plates from cities in Serbia with authorizations, or who did not have Kosovo documents.
The implementation of the laws was scheduled to begin on November 1, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs postponed it to allow for an information campaign.
Also, driving vehicles with foreign license plates on the basis of an authorization is in violation of the Traffic Law. However, the Police told Radio Free Europe that this was tolerated to give citizens time to change their license plates. Now, authorization will be allowed only in emergency cases, but with a warning.
In 2022, Kosovo banned the circulation of vehicles with license plates with acronyms of Serbian cities. The measure caused tensions after Serbs left Kosovo's institutions. Subsequently, part of the Serbian community in Kosovo registered cars with Serbian license plates and used them within Kosovo's territory on the basis of an authorization. The authorization includes the driver's ID card data, which is issued by Serbia for cities in Kosovo, but which Kosovo does not recognize as documents.
Meanwhile, the law on foreigners affects everyone who does not have Kosovar documents, but who lives, works or studies in Kosovo.
also
Serbian List encourages Kosovo Serbs to respect the Law on Foreigners
Kosovo Police have said that they will not immediately start with deportations, but only with notices to appear at police stations.
The Serbian List, as the largest Serb party in Kosovo, has again requested a postponement of the implementation of the laws. A similar request has also been made by Nenad Rashiqi, leader of the Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival.
