Intensive play to ensure visa liberalisation this year

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has asked European Integration Minister Hoxha, who has stayed these days in Brussels, to answer whether there will be a decision on visa liberalisation this year.

Minister Hoxha told the prime minister that the assessments are good so far, but the issue depends on EU member states.

The real “lines are for the Council meeting in early December to make the decision. The dispute over migration is a continuing and very tough debate under way. Now it's all in the hands of member states”, Minister Hoxha said.

Following the positive recommendation for visa liberalisation by the European Commission and voting in favour of liberalisation by the European Parliament, the main challenge in this process for Kosovo remains in the Council of Ministers, where interior ministers of EU member states give their assessments.

European Union Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn has recently stressed that Kosovo has its support for the integration process, including visa liberalisation.

Hahn has called for Kosovo to continue with reforms, especially in the area of rule of law, public administration and doing business.

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj told Radio Free Europe that during this week he has met senior EU officials and member states to lobby in search of support for visa liberalisation.

There is support for such a process. There is appreciation for meeting all the criteria we have made, while there is a European complex at the same time because of illegal migration”, Hoxhaj said.

The “therefore remains for us to do very great work, to talk with every European capital and especially to work with the larger states of the European Union in order to form a decision-making by the end of”, Deputy Prime Minister Hoxhaj said.

He also said the effort is currently that during the months of October and November the process of engagement and lobbiing will be closed, and whenever the European Council meeting is held there will be a positive decision.

The decision must be shaped somewhere in the last week of October, in the sense of what different member states might think. As the final decision is made when the European Council meets, which still does not have a precise date for when the” meeting could occur, Hoxhaj said.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoxhaj said with the intensifying of the work that the government should not have misunderstandings that Kosovo could receive negative answers from the EU Council of Ministers.

“First, we've lobbied until the European Commission came up with a positive assessment, and the second we've lobbied until the European Parliament has voted for such a topic and now we have to lobby to EU member states”, Hoxhaj said.

European Integration Minister Dona Hoxha has asked European Union Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn to speed up the decision-making process for visa liberalisation. It has asked senior EU officials that even member states carry out all procedural steps so that the process can be completed this year.

On the other hand, Armend Zemaj deputy chairman of the Commission for European Integration in the Kosovo Assembly from the Democratic League of Kosovo said in the phase in which the country is located, institutions must take concrete steps, insisting that Kosovo does not remain out of the visa liberalisation process.

I think that not enough co-ordination and various statements by the heads of institutions, the reports coming and coming out of here, I think they express some kind of suspicion and express institutional inability to complete this process. Very adequate steps should be taken at this stage”, Zemaj said.

MP Zemaj stressed that Kosovo has already met all criteria required by the European Union and that, according to him, if there is to be postponement of visa liberalisation, this would be the result of the country's non-coordination and non-employment of institutions.

“Everything that postpones this process is the non-co-ordination and institutional behaviour of the heads of institutions, including the declaration of the president, prime minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and reports concerning the Kosovo Assembly “, Zemaj said.

The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to recommend the Committee for Civic Freedoms, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) for visa liberalisation for Kosovo.

Following this European Parliament vote, the mandate for starting talks with EU member states is confirmed so that Kosovo can liberalise visas.

Talks on behalf of the European Parliament will lead Tanja Fajon, reporting the visa liberalisation process for Kosovo.

European integration officials say the issue of visa liberalisation for Kosovo will have to end before the European Parliament elections held in May. On the contrary, according to them, other scenarios are discouraging.