42 minutes agoKosovo's Long Road to Visas
Periskopi(5 years ago)
(5 years ago)Kosovo remains the only country in the Western Balkans that its citizens still need visas to travel to European Union countries. Kosovo has been waiting for visa removal since 2008. Radio Free Europe has published an infographic showing Kosovo's way in this direction since [...]
Radio Free Europe has published an infographic showing Kosovo's way in this direction since 2008.
In the same year, dialogue for visa liberalisation had started with the five Western Balkan states.
The European Commission had delivered the guide for visa liberalisation for Albania, Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The guide had not resigned to Kosovo.
After a year, so in 2009, the European Commission recommended visa liberalisation for citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina had received the recommendation, since it was considered not to have met the criteria. Kosovo, which had not received the guide from the EC, was named as a country where the <x0 technical requirements for visa liberalisation have yet to be met”.
In December 2009, Serbia, Northern Macedonia and Montenegro received visa liberalisation.
For Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, visas were removed in December 2010.
After two years of visa liberalisation for these states, Kosovo received the road map for visa liberalisation. The number of criteria was twice as high as guides to other countries in the region.
The “to try to complete, co-ordinated with the other side, setting the border/point line with Montenegro” is one of the criteria for Kosovo's leadership.
In May 2016, the European Commission asked Kosovo to ratify the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro before recommending visa liberalisation.
In July 2016, the European Commission had considered that Kosovo has fulfilled all criteria and recommended the European Union's member states abolishing the visa regime.
After two months, the European Parliament (one of the two institutions that must seal the decision) voted for visa liberalisation for Kosovo citizens. The final decision remains with the Council of Ministers. There the qualified majority is needed to pass that decision.
So far, the visa liberalisation vote for Kosovo has never been presented at the EU ministers' meetings.
