Why has Kosovo never asked for visa facilitation?

Kosovo citizens in the past decade have been able to obtain Schengen visas cheaper and easier, but have not done so because Kosovo has never asked for visa relief. This opportunity was offered to Pristina by the European Union, but Kosovo officials decided to bypass it.

Arta Avdiu, a journalist from Pristina, says that every time she applied for Schengen visa she had to pay at least 100 euros. Besides, this process takes a lot of time and makes you nervous, she says.

The last <x0 times per visa apply once or twice a year depends on how long I take it. I've been visaging for four or five days of stay and multiple entrances, which have been unexplorable. Procedures are extremely demanding, but they are also expensive. Not that I haven't had the chance, but I haven't had the patience to deal with that process. Being a journalist, I never had any relief”, Avdiu says.

How much is visa application?

The price of a visa in Kosovo depends on the embassy, and costs somewhere between 35 and 80 euros. This adds to the costs of agency services that now receive applications on behalf of embassies, health insurance, hotel booking, municipal documents.

Kosovo is the only state in the Western Balkans that has not officially requested visa relief.

Each country, whose citizens do not enjoy visa-free regimes with Schengen countries, has the right to seek a visa facilitation agreement.

This agreement is seen as the first step towards establishing that a visa-free regime, but is not the necessary precondition for visa liberalisation.

Kosovo has been able to apply since 2008. Visa relief means receiving cheaper visa and easier procedure. So at an exact price of 35 euros. The agreement envisions a simple application procedure for a specific category of citizens, such as students, experts, journalists or members of official delegations. This includes multiple entry visas over a longer period, while visa applicants must submit fewer documents to prove the purpose of the trip. Under this agreement, the time period for application treatment is much shorter between two and ten days between when additional safety documents are required, then it can last up to 30 days.

All Western Balkan countries signed this agreement with the EU in the second half of 2000. After that, visa liberalisation for Serbia, Montenegro and Northern Macedonia, which were issued visas in December 2009, followed, while visa liberalisation for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania took place a year later, in December 2010.

By the time other countries in the region signed this agreement, Kosovo had unresolved status, and citizens were with separate travel documents. In principle, Kosovo has had the opportunity to apply for this agreement after declaring independence, meaning since 2008. In a written response to Radio Free Europe, the European Commission confirmed that “Kosovo has never officially asked for visa convenience”.

Demush Shasha, secretary-general of the Ministry of European Integrations during 2011-2018, told Radio Free Europe that Kosovo authorities have decided to pass that step and to seek full visa removal, that is, visa liberalisation.

“The possibility of a fascinating (relative) visa regime has been offered. However, the Kosovo government at the time has made a decision not to seek the fascist regime. Why? Because the possibility of taking over the fasiliator regime posed a danger, and it was that some EU member states would say: We have given the fascist regime to Kosovo now, that's enough. There is no need now for visa liberalisation. So a risk assessment has been made that if we accept relief, we will lose support for full visa liberalisation, and we will lay an unnecessary obstacle to our journey towards free movement in the Schengen” area, Shasha explained. However, he adds, the European Commission and other EU partners agreed with that assessment. Such decisions, he points out, should today be analyzed in a time frame.

Civil society activists during a protest against the Kosovo visa regime. They hold banners with inscriptions “Kosovo is Europe”. Pristina, October 23rd, 2019.

If we go back, Kosovo was fully convinced that in 2016, after demarcation with Montenegro was ratified, visa liberalisation would be guaranteed.

If we analyze the time context from 2016, it was perfectly reasonable. But now knowing what happened, of course we would have agreed that it would have been better if we applied to the extenuating regime”, Shasha concluded.

After Kosovo authorities officially received the guide in June 2012 and ratified demarcation with Montenegro in 2016, the European Commission recommended the removal of the visa regime for Kosovo in July 2018 and called on EU member states to approve visa liberalisation. The European Parliament voted for visa liberalisation more than a year ago, and every adopted resolution was called on the EU to approve the removal of the visa regime. EU member states so far have not responded to this call, although Kosovo has met all conditions.

Why did Belarus receive visa relief and Kosovo did not?

The list of countries having a visa facilitation agreement includes 12 countries, and Belarus will soon be added. The agreement reached between this country and the EU comes into force on 1 July. An official statement from the EU says the agreement will enable easier and cheaper travel of Belarusn citizens to the Schengen area.

The agreement simplifies documentation that is needed for the specific categories to be submitted, as well as issuing longer-term visas, as well as lowering the overall visa fee to 35 euros”, the statement said.

When the visa facilitation agreement with Belarus was reached, a discussion began on Twitter about why Kosovo still has no liberalisation.

“Belarus has received visa facilitation, while Kosovo has not received visa liberalisation. We cannot help the EU more than we have already done”, former Kosovo Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli wrote.

“We have fulfilled our share as the EU does not”, he added.

In a statement by the EU office in Kosovo, it is said that the Belarus issue was a “relief agreement and that Kosovo is nearing completion. The relief agreement is the initial step to make visa liberalisation easier, but not abolished. Kosovo passed that step and went directly to the step for visa liberalisation”, the EU said.

On the other hand, the EU Council of Ministers in June last year decided to raise the visa price to 80 euros. As this decision now applies to several embassies in Kosovo, it is not worth those countries that have been negotiating visa relief agreements because the text of the agreement includes the visa price. Belarusn citizens have been included in this list of awards since last year, but with the visa relief agreement entered into force, they will pay only 35 euros for a visa by 1 July.