Macedonia: Serbia turning back holders of passports with Kosovo stamp
The Macedonian press has reported that Serbian border guards are turning bak holders of passports with the Kosovo stamp, which Belgrade does not recognize.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Wednesday, September 03, 2008
"We're collecting all passports to see the number of citizens turned back, in order to react appropriately," said Director of Consular Affairs in the Macedonian Foreign Ministry Refet Hajdari.
The Macedonian border police has not so far kept a record of the number of citizens turned back. Following the unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence and the introduction of stamps, the Serbian authorities announced that they would invalidate stamps and turn citizens back from borders.
Trucks transporting goods coming from Kosovo and looking to enter Serbia have the biggest problems, and, according to the paper, they "frequently plead with the Kosovo frontier authorities not to put a stamp in their passport to avoid problems."
