Considered A Security Threat, Serbia Expels Croatian Doctors Who Marry Their Citizens

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION/Tumasjan Artur

JAKARTA - Arien Stojanovic Ivkovic (31), a Croatian doctor who lives in Beogard with her Serbian husband, was asked to leave Serbia within one week. Ivkovic is considered a security threat.

"When I went to the police station, I was given a piece of paper stating that I was an unacceptable threat to Serbia's security and its citizens. I was given one week to leave," Ivkovic said.

"How can you pack things in a week?", sued Arien.

Stojanovic Ivkovic is one of about 20 Croatian citizens ordered to leave Serbia in the past three months, according to Croatian embassy data. Dozens of others were denied entry at the border.

Relations between Croatia and Serbia, which were involved in a fierce war, reopened in the 1990s, strained in recent months after a wave of anti-corruption protests, which Serbian pro-governmental media said were backed by Croatian security services.

Ivkovic said the only thing he could think of that might be the reason why he was identified as a security threat after 12 years of stay in Serbia was his support for student-led protests, which included attending several public gatherings.

"However, we don't know if this is the real reason," he said. "We as an inappropriate family deserve this," said Ivkovic.

He has filed a complaint and hopes to be allowed to stay with his family.

"We are very worried that in the past three days we experienced five cases of eviction (a Croatian citizen)," Croatian Ambassador to Serbia Hidajet Biscevic said.