03 September 2013

Today EULEX representatives handed over certified copies of 808 civil registry books from Serbia to the Civil Registration Agency (CRA) of Kosovo.

The complete files for two municipalities, Novobërdë/Novo Brdo (67 books), Ferizaj/Uroševac (741 books), were handed over, consisting of the certified copies of original civil and religious registry books with data on birth, marriage and death.

These copies have been produced and certified during the summer as part of the EU funded project based in Nis, Serbia, involving EULEX, the EU Office in Kosovo/EUSR, the Danish Refugee Council as the implementing partner, and the teams from Kosovo and Serbia.

It is estimated that there are in total some 12 000 registry books in Serbia, which means that the project has now successfully passed the half-way mark. The process of certifying copies of the original registry books is part of the EU facilitated Dialogue agreement reached on 2 July 2011 between Pristina and Belgrade. This EU Office funded project is the first phase of the establishment of a fully reliable and sustainable Civil Registry in Kosovo, as stipulated in the roadmap for Visa liberalisation.

Following the handover to CRA, the books are hard copy bound in Pristina, funded again by the EU Office, and subsequently in turn handed over to the local authorities for everyday use in the municipal civil status offices.

EULEX has by now handed over a total of 7128 certified copies of Civil Registry books, covering the municipalities of Prishtinë/Priština (1013), Lipjan/Lipljan (848), Obiliq/Obilić (264), Fushë Kosovë/ Kosovo Polje (219), Gllogoc/Glogovac (425), Podujevë/Podujevo (1066), Gjilan/Gnjilane (935), Kamenicë/Kamenica (824), Viti/Vitina (726), Novobërdë/Novo Brdo (67 books) and Ferizaj/Uroševac (741).