Zagreb-based manager Nikola Francetić, who lived and worked in Belgrade for the past seven years, was forced to leave Serbia by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, under the explanation that he “poses a security risk to the state.”
Francetić worked in Serbia as the director of the television platform NetTV Plus, which is part of the regional company United Group. During his years in Belgrade, he says he never had any issues with the law nor was he politically involved.
“I can’t explain what happened – I’m not politically active, I don’t make public appearances, I don’t comment on anything on social media,” Francetić told Jutarnji list.
According to him, the shock came when he was called to the police allegedly to “resolve an administrative formality,” but then, in an office with multiple police officers, had his residence permit revoked and was given seven days to leave the country.
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What troubles him especially is that just a few weeks earlier, he had invested his entire life savings into buying an apartment in Belgrade.
“It’s unbelievable to me that now, even though I own the apartment, I can’t enter it for at least a year,” adds the Croatian manager.
His lawyer filed an appeal against the Interior Ministry’s decision, and the Administrative Court in Belgrade accepted the motion to postpone the execution of the deportation order until a final ruling is made. However, due to the uncertainty and possible consequences at the border, Francetić decided to leave Serbia within the legal deadline.
He is just one in a series of Croatian citizens who have been deported from Serbia in recent months under similar explanations that they “pose a security risk.” The case of a Croatian doctor who was also ordered to leave the country after more than a decade of living and working in Belgrade also resonated publicly.
The European Commission has expressed concern over this practice and called on Serbia to provide transparent and legally grounded procedures when it comes to the deportation of foreign nationals.
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Source: N1, Foto: Lajmi