Visa liberalisation not chance to leave Kosovo

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has voiced confidence that within this year Kosovo will receive visa liberalisation, while he has said it should not go far from even EU membership candidate status.

He made these comments during a conversation with Kosovo's young, with the topic “Future - Development-Perspective”, “what is meant by European integration for Kosovo's youth”, organised by the European Integration Ministry on the mark of Europe's day.

In this case, Prime Minister Haradinaj said Europe is a little skeptical of enlargement, but he said this scepticism is not related to Kosovo, but because of its internal processes.

Whatever's good after the young people of Kosovo, it's good for you more and more days that we're going to meet, there's going to be trouble, so we're not as comfortable as we remember we're going to meet a bigger family that is hundreds of millions. So, of the 2 million we're here tomorrow, we'll be part of a 4-500 million family. All the peoples that have beliefs, prospects, values, and we will be part of them even if this day is not far off. So remember, no matter how far someone thinks it is, no time is going fast. I believe this year we will get the deserved and fair news for visa liberalisation that we should get, but I shouldn't go to the ready candidate status, I shouldn't go to the limit Kosovo's position to become an EU member, that we deserve it and that it is fair of our”, Haradinaj said.

The prime minister said that Kosovo has not recognised Serbia and the five EU countries, and that is why Brussels is the most difficult partnership with Kosovo.

According to him, the latest progress report is confirmation that Kosovo is part of Balkan countries and that Kosovo's youth are not uneven.

Speaking of Kosovo's advancing processes since declaring independence, Haradinaj said that when we speak today of visa liberalisation, tomorrow we will talk about the candidate status, opening negotiations with Kosovo, and later about separate chapters, and stressed that all this is evil that Kosovo must qualify, to continue the race among peoples, economies and countries, even when we are members of the EU.

The first of the Government of Kosovo, addressing young people, said that even after receiving visa liberalisation, there should be no mistake with actions that could affect the EU in halting visas.

While Parliament Speaker Kadri Veselini said visa liberalisation would come, it said it should not be exploited as opportunities to flee abroad.

The visa liberalisation for us means chance and opportunity, but the chance and opportunity not to leave immediately because we will not let Kosovo go for what we have sacrificed so much, but as an opportunity to return even those who have escaped us. The psychological barrier must eventually be removed, especially for our young people not to see what it means. In this case, to be Europeans allows me at the same time not to be able to move to Europe”, Veselin said.

Asked by young people what the results are for fighting crime and corruption as criteria for visa liberalisation, the head of the Parliament said there are many charges against senior officials for corruption.

The head of the EU Office in Kosovo, Natalia Apostolova, said that this year Europe Day has dedicated education reform to Kosovo, which according to her is very important because the country has over 70 percent of the new population.

What Kosovo has over 70 per cent of the young population Apostolova called great wealth for the country, while he said that is why this generation of young people should prepare well for EU membership.

“We will invest a lot in infrastructure -- that is, schools, gardens, equipped rooms where European standards will be brought to Kosovo. But that is not all. We will train teachers and directors so that they can offer in Kosovo schools the same expertise which is high by European standards. And last, but not least, we will increase the number of scholarships for Kosovo youth to study in our capitals at our higher education centres through Erasmus and Erasmus+. All this is going to happen and I'm pretty sure this is going to happen soon. But most importantly, you are the future of Kosovo, because you will make the big change in Kosovo. You will make the socio-economic difference in Kosovo. You will prepare your country as a future member state. So you're on your way to the European perspective. We have the strategy of the Western Balkans, which has already given you a great and clear perspective of”, she said.

The host of this conversation, European Integration Minister Dzwa Hoxha, stressed that the country's future is in the European Union, but according to it also means that they have to do more work for Kosovo to become a country where all have prospects.

“Hopefully next year we will be a candidate country or work towards obtaining candidate status, in 2020 we will probably officially receive candidate status and all other steps that are in the integration process. Let's work, because if we work together we believe and we are convinced that we will succeed in making Kosovo a very short term a European Union member country”, Minister Hoxha said.

The debate with Kosovo's youth was organised by the Ministry of European Integration under May 9th, Europe Day.