21 minutes agoVisa liberalisation, with obstacles in Kosovo, EU
Periskopi(6 years ago)
(6 years ago)The free movement of Kosovo citizens in the Schengen area, or as it is known to be visa liberalisation, in the policy discurs within and abroad, has started since 2010, but the signals currently sent out by both the countries of the European Union, but even by Kosovo's own institutions, talk of scepticism for that to be realised soon, [...]
The free movement of Kosovo citizens in the Schengen area, or as known as visa liberalisation, in the policy disinclination within and outside the country, has started since 2010, but the signals currently sent out by both European Union countries, but even by Kosovo's own institutions, talk about scepticism for that to be realised soon, assessing developments in Kosovo and European integration.
According to them, whether in Kosovo, even within the European Union's own troops, there are different opinions about whether Kosovo has met the criteria for obtaining visa liberalisation.
While the European Commission and the European Parliament have given the green light for visa liberalisation for Kosovo, the EU Council of Ministers has not yet done so, because some EU member states consider that Kosovo has not met the criteria of fighting corruption and high-level organised crime.
Demush Shasha of the Kosovo Institute for European Policy (EPIK) tells Radio Free Europe, that the European Union's designated countries have a basis for arguments to block visa liberalisation for Kosovo.
According to him, since 2016, Kosovo has been asked concrete steps in the fight against corruption and high-level organised crime, but, not four years later, as he says, Kosovo has not marked any such concrete cases.
Also, according to him, a stumbling block to Kosovo's progress, although it is not directly linked as criteria for visa liberalisation, is freezing dialogue with Serbia.
If Kosovo marks progress in these two areas, so the dialogue begins on normalising relations with Serbia, as well as there are concrete cases in the fight against high-level corruption, there is no doubt an environment in which the EU, in particular sceptical states, will find it much harder to block visa liberalisation”, says Shasha.
Artan Murati, professor of European Union Law, speaking of Radio Free Europe, estimates that the demand of some of the European Union states for Kosovo to fight organised crime and high-level corruption has not responded.
For more, he says that Transparency International's recent reports show that Kosovo has degraded in the fight against corruption.
Meanwhile, according to him, even specifics within some EU member states are currently not in favour of visa liberalisation for Kosovo.
“There is trouble in domestic politics, that is, with domestic policy, because the large number or wave of migrants who have gone to these countries, especially in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, has influenced some politicians within these states to have political costs for supporting these movements. They're normally afraid that if their countries, under their leadership, removed visas for a country that was problematic in terms of illegal migrations earlier, could also affect their political decline”, Murati estimates.
Even Demush Shasha expresses the opinion that the issue of Kosovo visa liberalisation should not be seen as separate from what is happening within the countries of the European Union and its enlargement to Western Balkans.
According to him, the case of deliberal visa non-liberalisation for Kosovo and the non-proliferation of negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia for EU membership have similarities that are related to policies that it has towards Western Balkan countries.
“On both occasions, yet it is the EU Council, which has banned progress in the case of Albania and Northern Macedonia, as well as in the case of Kosovo. Therefore, it is accurate that within the EU a scepticism for the enlargement agenda is currently ruling. But we have seen a discussion about Europe's own future during 2020. In this direction, there is part of the responsibility also part of the political will within EU member states, but it is out of our control”, Shasha points out.
Meanwhile, Artan Murati estimates that in the current situation it is difficult to have any positive moves regarding a possible visa liberalisation for Kosovo. But, according to him, Kosovo should make greater efforts in fighting corruption and organised crime, as well as exploiting elements that are in favour of enabling the visa liberalisation process to be completed.
“In the EU, the state of Croatia and Germany will have the presidency this year. Both, in a way, are friends of Kosovo and are likely to introduce Kosovo as part of the agenda at the EU Council of Ministers meetings. However, the introduction to the agenda alone is not enough, because a positive vote with the qualified majority of votes is needed. This should be provided with lobbies and serious approaches on the part of Kosovo, which we don't have, because now and now, half a year ago we've been without functional institutions and we're actually under institutional custody”, Murati points out.
During visit to Kosovo on Thursday, European Union for Foreign Policy and Security senior representative Josep Borrell, During its meeting with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, he has reiterated the European Commission's and the European Parliament's stance, saying that “is the right time to move and conclude with technical requirements”, but he also added that he cannot guarantee anything as the decision is made by the member states of the European Union.
President Thaci, meanwhile, has expressed disappointment, as he has said, of citizens, of nonliberalisation of visas and for, as he has called, double standards in relation to Kosovo, despite meeting the criteria on the part of the latter. He has described this as Kosovo's unjust and uneven treatment on the part of the EU, which must end.
