Following the reports that an editor-in-chief of KRIK portal Stevan Dojcinovic, citizen of the Republic of Serbia, was detained at Abu Dhabi Airport (UAE) and denied entry to the UAE, after which he was returned to the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues the following statement:

The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Abu Dhabi has informed that S. Dojcinovic did not contact the representatives of the Embassy with regard to the above events, nor did he request consular assistance and protection. Furthermore, the UAE state authorities did not contact the Serbian Embassy in Abu Dhabi in connection with this matter, nor did they inform it about the detention of our citizen, including the reasons why he had been denied entry to the UAE. The Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia who attended the international conference of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, was informed about these developments indirectly while at the conference, by the event participants.

In line with the diplomatic practice, citizens detained by foreign authorities are allowed, on their request, to contact their Embassy in order to be provided with consular assistance. Moreover, the Ministry underlines that each state is entitled to deny entry to foreign nationals on its own judgement and at its discretion and is under no obligation to give reasons for such a position. The same had already happened to S. Dojcinovic when he was denied entry to the Russian Federation.

As for Serbia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government of the Republic of Serbia have never suggested and will never suggest to any country in the world that they place any Serbian citizen on a restrictive list.

The Serbian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has requested information on the reasons for detaining a Serbian citizen and denying him entry to the UAE.