Kosovo said yesterday it had rejected a request from Serbia’s President to visit his ethnic kin to mark Orthodox Christmas, saying the ban was in response to Belgrade’s refusal to let Kosovo officials visit Serbia.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic had asked to attend an Orthodox Christmas Mass tomorrow at Gracanica monastery in a Serb enclave just a few kilometers from the capital Pristina.

“We will use reciprocity measures, if our officials are not allowed to go to Serbia certainly we will apply the same measures,” Kosovo Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi said at a news conference yesterday.

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