The implementation of new rules for licensing tourist guides in Kosovo has become another flashpoint in Belgrade’s political rhetoric against Kosovo. Through reactions from Serbian officials, the Serbian Orthodox Church, and Serbian and Russian media in Serbian, a legal measure for licensing tourist guides is being presented as an attempt to “extinguish Serbian identity,” limit pilgrimages, and weaken Serb ties to Orthodox monasteries in Kosovo.
According to the rules published by Kosovo institutions, persons who practice as tourist guides must be licensed. Organized groups entering Kosovo accompanied by foreign guides must also have a licensed local guide throughout their stay.
To inform visitors, Kosovo institutions have distributed an orientation document in Albanian, Serbian and English at border points, which explains the rules for tourist guides, the obligations of agencies and measures against violations.
While Pristina presents this as a process of regulating the tourism sector, Belgrade, the institutions of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian media have interpreted it as a measure that could hinder pilgrimages and visits by Serbs to Orthodox monasteries in Kosovo. This narrative has also been amplified by Russian media in the Serbian language, especially “RT Balkan” and “Sputnik Srbija”.
What are the rules for licensing guides aimed at?
From the perspective of Kosovo institutions, licensing is part of the implementation of legal framework for tourism and aims at standardizing services, professionalizing the sector and formalizing the market.
According to the authorities, the rules also aim to prevent the activity of unlicensed guides and create mechanisms for overseeing the way Kosovo's history, culture and heritage are presented.
Pristina emphasizes that these measures do not prohibit visits to religious sites and do not violate freedom of religion. The measure is related to the professional exercise of the activity of tourist guides, while individual and religious visits are not presented as prohibited.
The information document distributed at border points also clarifies that organized groups entering Kosovo, accompanied by foreign guides not licensed in Kosovo, must be accompanied by a licensed local guide throughout their stay.
However, the application of the rules to organized groups of pilgrims has become the most controversial part of this issue.
The narratives of Serbian media and officials
In Serbian media, the new rules have been interpreted mainly through a political, ethnic and religious framework, moving away from the declared institutional goal of regulating the tourism sector.
One of the main narratives is that the licensing of guides is not simply an administrative measure, but an attempt to limit Serb visits to Orthodox monasteries and weaken their ties with Kosovo.
The Diocese of Raška and Prizren has insisted on the distinction between tourism and pilgrimage., arguing that visits to monasteries are religious and spiritual journeys. Along the same lines, the media “Politics”And“Evening News"have raised concerns about how the accompaniment by local guides will work, questioning the language they will use and the way the history of the monasteries will be presented."
These reports build the narrative that guides licensed by Kosovo institutions can be used to impose an interpretation of history on Serbian visitors that contradicts the Serbian historical narrative. In this discourse, the monasteries of Deçan, Graçanicë, and the Patriarchate of Peja are presented as objects that risk being detached from their Serbian context and interpreted solely as part of Kosovo's cultural heritage.
Another recurring narrative is that of “separating the monasteries from the Serbs.” According to this framework, the ultimate goal of the measure is not to regulate tourism, but to isolate the monasteries and weaken their ties with the Serbian community in Kosovo and with Serbia.
In a response to Radio Kim, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has clarified that the obligation to engage a licensed local guide only applies when professional tourist guide services are provided, according to the Law on Tourism. According to the Ministry, a religious visit, pilgrimage or participation in a religious ceremony, in itself, does not constitute a tourist guide service and is not subject to this obligation. Priests, monks and representatives of religious communities may accompany and inform pilgrims without having a license as a tourist guide, as long as they act within the framework of their religious activities.
According to the Ministry, the law does not aim to restrict religious rights or pilgrimages, but to regulate tourism services and guarantee professional standards. The license requirement applies when a person, regardless of whether the group is religious or otherwise, professionally provides guide services and presents cultural, historical or tourist content.
On the political front, the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Milosh Vucevic, has presented the move as part of an effort to “erasure the Serbian name and identity” in Kosovo. This shifts the issue from a debate over the licensing of guides to a broader narrative about pressure on Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Russian media narratives in Serbian
These narratives have also been amplified by Russian media in Serbian, especially "RT Balkan" and "Sputnik Srbija".
On July 28, "RT Balkan" published the article "Novi podmukli udar: Može li Kurti suspitati Srbe da visiteću svetinje na Kosmetu" (A new insidious coup: Can Kurti ban Serbs from visiting holy sites in Kosmet?), where the headline itself frames the measure as a “new insidious blow.” The article suggests that the new rules could be used to ban or make it more difficult for Serbs to organize visits to holy sites.
Through statements by Miloš Ković and Živojin Rakočević, "RT Balkan" promotes the narrative that the aim of the measure is to "separate" the monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church from the Serbian community, as well as to weaken the ties of Serbs in Kosovo with Serbia.
Another narrative promoted by this media is that local guides can serve as an instrument for controlling history, imposing a certain interpretation of Kosovo's past on pilgrims. Thus, a rule for the professional licensing of guides is presented as an attempt to control the historical narrative.
On July 29, "Sputnik Serbia" published the article "This is hard to explain: Pristina gives licenses for nothing – the more you oppress us, the more we will come!” (“This is hard to explain: Pristina gives licenses for nothing – the more you oppress us, the more we will come!”). This media outlet also presents the measure as an attempt to stop the "flow" of pilgrims from Serbia, Republika Srpska, and Montenegro to monasteries in Kosovo.
In Sputnik Srbija's reporting, the licensing is directly linked to the claim that Pristina aims to "cut the connection" between Serbs in Kosovo and Serbia, while the rules are interpreted as part of a series of measures aimed at weakening the Serbian presence and identity.
So, in the narratives of "Politika", "Večernje Novosti", "RT Balkan" and "Sputnik Srbija", licensing rules appear mainly through these framings:
- “Attack” on Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church;
- Attempts to limit or interrupt pilgrimages;
- Attempts to "separate" monasteries from the Serbian community;
- Control of historical interpretation through licensed guides;
- Attempts to weaken Serbian identity and ties with Serbia;
- Part of a broader pressure on Serbs in Kosovo.
Facts versus narratives
The facts show that Kosovo is implementing a licensing and supervision system for tourist guides, requiring that persons practicing this profession be licensed and that groups organized with foreign guides also have a licensed local guide. The orientation document given to visitors at border crossings does not prohibit visits to religious sites and does not stipulate a ban on pilgrimages.
On the other hand, the claims promoted by "Politika", "Večernje Novosti", "RT Balkan" and "Sputnik Srbija" that the measure aims to "erasure Serbian identity", "separate monasteries from Serbs" or ban pilgrims, are political interpretations that go beyond the content of the published rules.
Thus, the fact is that Kosovo is implementing a licensing system for tourist guides, while the narrative of Serbian and Russian Serbian-language media is that this system is being used as an instrument to limit pilgrimages, control the interpretation of history, and weaken Serbs' ties to monasteries and their religious heritage in Kosovo.