Ristic denied entry to Kosovo-Metohija

BELGRADE - The Serbian Ministry of Information and Telecommunications said the provisional self-government institutions in Pristina had denied entry to the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija to Minister Dejan Ristic on Tuesday evening.

Ristic was to attend a ceremony that will mark the 80th anniversary of the Jedinstvo weekly, the only remaining Serbian-language print media outlet in Kosovo-Metohija.

The ceremony at the Gracanica cultural centre is scheduled for Wednesday.

In spite of the fact Ristic's visit had been announced in a timely manner in line with an established procedure, it was banned an hour before he was due to cross the administrative line between central Serbia and Kosovo-Metohija, the Ministry said in a statement.

"We stress that this is not the first unpleasant situation the Pristina provisional self-government institutions have put Ristic in," it also said, noting that a car carrying Ristic had been intercepted by Pristina's so-called police on the Pec-Decani trunk road on July 29, 2021, and that Ristic - who was visiting the province in his capacity as the director of the Genocide Victims' Museum - had subsequently been taken to a so-called police station in Decani and interrogated.

"By obstructing freedom of movement and detaining the director of a national cultural institution, the Pristina authorities demonstrated that they do not stop at even the most drastic illegal actions. This time, they have taken a step further in their undemocratic activity," the Ministry said.

It added that the decision to deny entry to Ristic represented "yet another overt example of the violation of the right to free movement, freedom of public information and freedom of expression for Serbs in that part of our homeland," the statement said.

Continuously obstructing and/or making impossible the work of Serbian-language media outlets and jeopardising the security of Serbian media professionals in the territory of Serbia's southern province, the Pristina authorities have again demonstrated their "essentially antidemocratic and discriminatory character," the Ministry said.

It also expressed concern and regret over the irresponsible move by the Pristina authorities and called on the international community to "condemn the antidemocratic decision with determination."