Calling Kosovo: you must dial Serbia first

(PRISTINA) - Kosovo may have declared independence in 2008, but when it comes to phone lines, it is still part of Serbia, which has refused to recognise the breakaway territory's sovereignty.

Telecommunication is just one of many practical issues that Serbia and Kosovo would have to sort out in EU-brokered talks expected to resume next month.

Even though Kosovo is recognised by some 90 states, including the United States and 22 countries of the European Union, opposition from Serbia and ally Russia has effectively blocked Pristina from seeking a place in the United Nations.

This has in turn blocked Kosovo from getting its own telephone country code.

Anyone calling a fixed line in Kosovo has to dial through Serbia's country code (+381). For Serbians, making a call to Kosovo is still a national call.

Those in Pristina wanting to reach Belgrade can just dial the Serbian capital's city code (011) direct.

When it comes to mobile phone calls, Kosovo is independent from Serbia. Nevertheless it is dependent on other countries.

Mobile phone operators, set up in Kosovo after Serb forces were driven out following the 1998-1999 conflict, issue numbers with the national codes for Monaco (+377) or Slovenia (+386).

The Kosovo parliament has asked if Kosovo can use Albania's country code (+355), but the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) -- a UN agency -- has rejected the request.

Pristina is also battling against interference over the running of its telecom operators.

Kosovo is trying to privatise its state-owned Telekom (PTK), but Belgrade is contesting this as it believes that it has a say over national operators.

Among companies bidding for PTK is one led by former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, a strong supporter of the 1999 NATO air campaign against Serbian troops fighting against Kosovo independence, Kosovo's Economic Development Ministry said in September.

The ethnic Albanian authorities in Pristina meanwhile object to the presenceof three Serbian mobile phone providers which are operating mainly in majority Serb enclaves.

In 2010 Pristina destroyed transmitters and cut the Serbian operators' cables, which they consider illegal, because the firms were not licensed by Kosovo authorities and do not pay taxes to them.

Belgrade argues the operators have valid licenses to serve Kosovo, issued before 1999, when the territory was still under Serbian control.