12 August 2013

Today EULEX representatives handed over certified copies of 1550 civil registry books from Serbia to the Civil Registration Agency of Kosovo.

The complete files for two municipalities, Kamenicë/Kamenica (824 books) and Viti/Vitina (726 books), were handed over, consisting of the certified copies of original civil and religious registry books with data on birth, marriage and death.

The copies have been produced and certified in the last two months as part of the 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. This 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.

EULEX now has handed over a total of 6320 certified copies of Civil Registry books, covering the municipalities of Prishtinë/Priština (1013), Lipjan/Lipjan (848), Obiliq/Obilić (264), Fushë Kosovë/ Kosovo Polje (219), Gllogoc/Glogovac (425), Podujevë/Podujevo (1066), Gjilan/Gnjilane (935), Kamenicë/Kamenica (824) and Viti/Vitina (726).