Soltes: Kosovo has met visa criteria

Members of the European Parliament at today's plenary session have discussed the situation in the Western Balkan countries.

Kosovo, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia were praised for steps towards European integration.

Neither did the call for tax removal against Serbia miss.

European Parliament rapporteur Igor Soltes has identified as the biggest problems in the country, major corruption, organised crime, and lack of political consensus in the country.

“Bilateral issues cannot be solved with excessive measures”, Soltes said, given the 100% tax Kosovo has imposed last week on products from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the European Western Balkans portal reports.

Soltes said that Kosovo has met all criteria required for visa liberalisation, and has called for the EU to fulfill its obligation.

Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn also agreed that the tax does not solve any problems.

“The government's recent decisions are very disturbing and are seriously damaging Kosovo and regional co-operation, are violating the CEFTA agreement and are contrary to the spirit of the SAA”, Hahn said.

According to him, the path to reform is slow, but the EU will continue its support for Kosovo.