UNMIK/PR/481
SRSG Hans Haekkerup signed and delivered the first UNMIK Travel documents to 11 Kosovo residents at a special ceremony yesterday.
“UNMIK has taken very seriously its responsibility to ensure that the people of Kosovo have the ability to travel,” he said.
UNMIK decided to issue travel documents when it became clear that many residents of Kosovo were unable to travel as they lacked or declined Yugoslav passports. The UNMIK Travel Document can enable the holder to travel outside Kosovo with appropriate visas, but it does not state or define nationality. It will be valid for the duration of UNMIK’s mandate as the legitimate authority of Kosovo.
The first to receive the long-awaited UNMIK Travel Document was Mrs. Time Kaliqini, 73, from Istok/Istog. Ten other recipients came from Mitrovica, Vushtrri, Kamenica, Pristina and Obilic to the ceremony at UNMIK Government Building.
UNMIK will distribute 90 more Travel Documents to municipalities in the coming week, said DSRSG Tom Koenigs, the head of UNMIK’s Civil Administration (Pillar II).
Kosovo residents can apply for travel documents upon receipt of an identification card, which is one result of the ongoing civil registry. UNMIK is in the process of distributing the first 34,000 identification cards--these initial cards going mostly to people who had lost their documentation. Over the next five to six months, some 900,000 ID cards should be distributed, Koenigs said
“The UNMIK Travel Document has met all international quality standards, although it is not a passport,” SRSG Haekkerup told the participants. “It has been recognized by 16 countries. And I am confidant that soon the remaining countries, and in particular the FYROM, will soon recognize the validity of these documents.”
The Travel Document was approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the agency that sets the standards for passports and similar documents, and produced in Germany. Sixteen countries have recognized the documents as valid—Sweden, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Finland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States. The Benelux countries have withheld acceptance until all Shengen countries officially recognize the document, said Koenigs. Of those countries, only Portugal has not yet communicated its approval. Also, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has not yet delivered an official response: FYROM’s recognition of the UNMIK Travel Document is crucial for Kosovars wishing to travel, as most national missions or embassies issuing visas are located in Skopje. Only Switzerland gives visas in Pristina.