Croatian Ambassador Biscevic confirms doctor left Serbia

“Doctor Arien Stojanović Ivkovic left Serbia yesterday. This was one of the highly sensitive cases which separates families. Today is also the deadline for another Croatian national whose company has operated in Serbia for 11 years to leave,” he told N1 Zagreb.

Stojanovic Ivkovic lived in Belgrade for 12 years but was ordered out of the country with a one year ban on reentry because the authorities feel she poses a security risk. She graduated from Belgrade University’s School of Medicine and is married to a Serbian national and has a daughter born in Belgrade. She said that the reason for her expulsion is an Instagram post expressing support for the student protests.

“I want to stress that the deportation of an official of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce who has been working in Serbia for 12 years leaves an especially negative impression. Overall, this creates a bad atmosphere,” he said and added that there are an increasing number of inquiries about traveling to Serbia. “People are worried, not to say scared. There have been almost 20 cases over the past 3 months… There was a lull after a not was sent requesting an explanation from the Serbian Foreign Ministry,” he said.

The ambassador said it’s difficult to say whether the expulsions are a political assessment but added that several dozen Croatian nationals and officials have been barred from from entering Serbia.