
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will demand an explanation from Serbia for the expulsion of Macedonian activist Iskra Rosso
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade expressed concern and announced that it would seek an explanation from the Serbian authorities after Macedonian citizen and NGO activist Iskra Rosso was expelled from Serbia with a one-year entry ban.
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-The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses concern over the expulsion from the Republic of Serbia and the one-year entry ban of a Macedonian citizen with regulated residence in the country, who, according to the competent authority of the Republic of Serbia, represents a "security threat", the Ministry's statement reads.
In this context, they add, the Ministry of National Education and Culture will request an explanation regarding the justification of the measures taken, especially considering our expectation that they are in accordance with the legal framework of the Republic of Serbia, but also with European and international human rights standards.
-We sincerely expect that this case will be resolved in an appropriate manner, through dialogue and with the presence of goodwill on both sides, as well as in the interest of maintaining continuity in building friendly and good-neighborly relations between the two countries, the Ministry's statement added.
The executive director of the Association for the Support of People with Disabilities SOLEM, Iskra Rosso, was detained and questioned by the police, and then expelled by the authorities, along with at least 13 other activists who were participating in an international conference in Belgrade. The expelled activists were given the explanation that they posed a security risk to Serbia.
In a written statement to MIA, Rosso says that on January 21 of this year, during her participation in a training on revenue generation strategies for non-profit organizations, which took place from January 20 to 21 in Belgrade, she faced an unexpected incident when, upon returning to her hotel, she was detained by the police without a clear explanation. Rosso says that she later learned that she had been issued a 12-month entry ban into Serbia based on the Law on Foreigners.
-Upon returning to the hotel where I was staying, I was detained by the police and, together with several other participants, transferred to a police station without a clear explanation. Later, I learned that I had been issued a 12-month entry ban in Serbia, based on Article 78 of the Law on Foreigners. During the process, I did not receive an explanation for the detention, which further increased the uncertainty and anxiety among me and the other participants. Although I must mention that the police in Belgrade behaved extremely professionally. I have already submitted a request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Skopje to obtain information about the reasons for issuing the entry ban, and I am also preparing a process to appeal the decision, says Rosso.
Balkan media reports that on the night of January 21-22, a total of 13 foreign citizens from Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Albania, Moldova, Romania, Austria and the Czech Republic were detained in Belgrade and then deported from Serbia without explanation. They were part of the Erste Academy for NGOs, organized by the Erste Foundation. The participants were detained overnight from the hotel where they were staying in Belgrade without explanation, and after being detained for several hours, they had to leave Serbia immediately. They were also banned from entering the country for one year.
The expulsion of civil society activists was also announced yesterday by the European Commission, which has asked Serbia, as a candidate for EU membership, to respect the rights of civil society organizations.