Kosovo.
 

Going to the Balkans in June with the intention of going to Montenegro. Wondering what the position is regarding going via Kosovo. Is there any probs with passport stamps and getting back into Serbia. Any info and advice welcomed

Ali

I crossed in 2009 with no problems (UK passport holder).

Cheers
Pete

If you are EU citizen use ID card in Kosovo(don't show them passport) . If they stamp it you may have problems on Serbian side (depend on "who" is on duty) .

Can' t remember now but I think it was Serbia or Montenegro, but make sure you have Green Card insurance. I don't mean the translation on the back of your UK certificate I mean an actual green piece of paper from your insurance company because that's the only thing they will except, if you don't have it it's 50 Euro's for their home grown insurance!

Hi Ali,
if you just show ID-card like I did, they will refuse to enter.
Very unkindly/stubborn border officers.
I would go to Montenegro (nice place!) via albania or croatia if you can avoid kosovo.

Don't forget the green insurance card.

have a nice trip
Heiner

Heiner and all.

Thanks for the guidance and advice. Been to Balkans last year but did not make it to Kosovo. After all the reading etc feel it needs to be done. Will take the advice and either enter via Serbia or Montenegro first. Carried a Green Card last year through Bosnia croatia etc and had no probs. Will do the same this year

ali

Green card is not valid in Kosovo (you had to pay insurance).
I did entered Kosovo with ID (2009).

Last october we went to Kosovo from Macedonia. Insurance at the border I recall was like 15€. Yes, bring green card for the rest of countries.

We visited some very nice Serbian Orthodox monasteries, always guarded by UN blue berets. I guess they were awarded UNESCO heritage status in order to protect them better too.

Going from Kosovo to Montenegro was not problem at all, even if our Spanish passports were stamped.

Happy travels,

Esteban

When I was there a few years back, the only real problem was that you could not enter Kosovo from, say, Macedonia and then exit into Serbia: the Serbs would claim you entered Serbia (i.e., Kosovo) illegally because you didn't get a Serbian stamp at the time....which you couldn't do, because no one but Serbia believed Kosovo still a part of Serbia.

The solution was to enter Kosovo via Serbia, then exit wherever you pleased. Or you could enter Kosovo as you pleased, but exit to anyplace but Serbia. There were some bumps in the road, of course--the Serbians gave me a hard time for even heading in that direction, the UN troops guarding the border had no entry stamps (which caused initial difficulties when I exited elsewhere), etc. But people were friendly enough, the roads fairly good, the mountain scenery spectacular, and in other respects the country was entirely worth a visit.

Oh, and I didn't buy insurance--none was offered where I entered--and this caused some consternation upon my exit. Nothing serious.

Hope that's helpful.

You've got to love politics
 

Markh,
That's not strictly the case; it is more of a perception because some of the bigger countries have supported the separation of Kosovo from Serbia.
Many other countries have not supported Kosovo independance, and I guess they won't, because of the precedence that could be drawn for other minorities in Europe.
e.g. Spain doesn't want a separate country of Kosovo in order not to encourage their own separatists, the Basques and Catalonians.

ps. Here's an update:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Co...zingKosovo.svg
Seems that the teeming billions of population in this world do not recognise the independance of Kosovo, so far.
I guess for the same reasons as Spain.

Hello.

My last informations are the same as @markharf said. It is difficult to cross the border of Kosovo and Serbia, cause Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as independent county. They also may refuse your wish. The easiest option is to go in or out through Macedonia and Montenegro. Because you are a foreigner, I advise to you, to avoid the northern part of the country. Some people claimed, that they were on watch from the local people all the time.

The best and "safest" part for crossing Kosovo, also the most beautiful is from general Jankovic bordercross via Šar planina national park to Prizren and forward to Peć and than you cross the border to Montenegro (Rozaje).

I hope it helps.

Best wishes!
Nejc

Use your ID, if you make use of your passport ask not to stamp it (like in Israel).
Green insurance is not valid, since Kosovo is not part of Serbia any more. Insurance at the border is very cheap and mandatory.
Avoid the north of Kosovo (north Ibar river in Mitrovica) and for any reason don't cross the border with Serbia at Jarinje and Brnjak, road block are not unusual in that area.

Best way to get into Kosovo from Montenegro is across Kulina pass coming from Rozaje.

From there, you will have access to Pec Patriarchate and Decane Monastery.

Have a nice trip!

All

Any current information please, I have a plan to cross Bulgaria into Serbia, then into Kosovo and cross into Montenegro at Pec to Rozaje, I will not be returning to Serbia (on this trip anyway), I will avoid the North of Kosovo, I was planning to enter Kosovo near Podujevo.

Any advice gratefully received.

I Will cross to Kosovo on Friday??? I stay in Ferizaj for some days?


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I won't be there for a few weeks yet :)

As mentioned above. No problems at all to enter, leaving anywhere but Serbia. Insurance available on the border. Everybody's nice if you speak English (they love Americans and Brits). Traffic is a bit of chaos similar to Albania. All basic services available and payable by credit cards.

Have a nice time
Fred

I'll be tempting fate in a few weeks as I intend to enter Serbia from Kosovo. I think it could work as things have changed a bit ever since Serbia has gained official status as a candidate member of the EU and membership negotiations started in January. One of the conditions for negotations to start was that they would open joint border post together with Kosovan border officials. Also -at least for my country- passports are no longer required to enter Serbia, an electronic ID suffices. So the old reasoning for turning us back no longer applies (it went something like: "Kosovo is Serbian territory but you have no Serbian stamp in your passport, so you are in Serbia illegally and have to leave"). We'll see how it goes and if they still turn me back I'll just have to make a detour via MNE or FYROM.

Thanks everyone bier

Greetings from Kosovo.
I entered Kosovo from Kukues (Albania) yesterday. Not any issue with entering at the border. Only thing you need is an insurance what cost you 15€. Green card is not valid here. But does not mean that you do not need it. I was asked all papers when entering Montenegro day before

The fun thing is if you drive with yellow west. The locals think you are a police when they see you in the mirror. So they automatically slow down and makes it easier to pass them :mchappy:

Regarding the ID and passports I have to say that this depends on the person n duty.
My friends from Greece entered Kosovo with their ID's after a Balkan tour but they experienced problems, they didn't have any passports with them, it took them a couple of hours to short this out (eventually they let them enter with the ID's after a few calls to officials).
I would suggest carrying a passport as well just to avoid the headaches and unnecessary waiting.
Also entering Serbia from Kosovo is still just a mix of luck, time of year and status, most of the Greek riders are denied access to Serbia if they are in Kosovo that's why we mostly include Kosovo as the last point in our trips (heading from out to Greece), Kosovo and then to FYROM and Greece.

I will be travelling from Skopje to Peje this coming Thursday. If any other bikers are around it would be nice to catch up?

My trip report is at Kiwi Dreams - Europe & Morocco 2014 - ADVrider

Kiwi Mike

We had no troubles at all getting into Kosovo from Albania with just our national ID cards 3 weeks ago. In fact the border crossing near Letaj we used was the friendliest, most efficient and most professional we took during the entire trip. And by extension any I've ever crossed by road.

Unfortunately due to the bad weather we experienced in the 2 weeks before we were far behind on schedule by this time and we had to skip our plans to head into Serbia. So can't give any intel on whether they'd let me in.

To answer my own question, crossed Serbia into Kosovo no problem at all, the Serbian Police were on the road a couple of miles before the Kosovo border, but never stopped me. Insurance cost in Kosovo was 30 euro (4x4) for a min of 14 days. The whole trip was very easy into Montenegro.