Brussels reacts to Serbia abolishing visa visas from non-member states

Authorities in Serbia over the past month are receiving sharp criticism from the European Union because within a year, visas have been lifted from citizens from many third world countries.

The problem for the EU, as the Belgrade newspaper “blic” describes, is that Serbia is thus buying out countries that have recognised Kosovo's independence or that have attracted recognition of its independence. That's how the EU's fight against illegal migration is getting harder.

Over a year, Serbia has removed visas from India, Iran, Bahhams, Barbados, Jamaica, Mauricius, Mexico, St. Vincent, Grenades, Paraguajs, and Colombia. The visa - free regime also has Suriname, Guinea Bissao and Burundi.

Of all these countries, Colombia itself has recognised Kosovo's independence.

For Serbian politics towards visa liberalisation, Slovenia has first spoken of as problematic, which has especially presented visa removal for Iran and for some African countries.

Then came criticism from the Council of Europe, which called for Serbia to implement EU policy about visa liberalisation.

Croatia's newspaper “Jutarnji list”, citing the words of an unidentified EU official, says that for those reasons Serbia could be removed by the European Union's visa-free regime.

The Council calls on Serbia to refrain from withdrawing from common policies about visas, where recent practices, such as the outcome of visa liberalisation agreements on several third countries, are of concern” said in the EU document, which is expected to be approved by member states in late June.