5 minutes agoToday, Report on Kosovo, key visa liberalisation recommendation
Periskopi(4 years ago)
(4 years ago)The European Parliament for Foreign Policy Commission will discuss reports on Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia on Tuesday, including hundreds of amendments proposed to be included in these reports. In the draft of the report that had previously presented the rapporteur for Kosovo in this body, Violet von Cremon is [...]
In the draft of the report, which had previously presented the rapporteur for Kosovo in this body, Violet von Cremon, has reiterated that Kosovo has fulfilled all the criteria for visa liberalisation since 2018, but the decision on freedom of movement has not yet been adopted.
The text of this document calls on the EU Council to urgently make the visa liberalisation decision for Kosovo citizens.
The document includes support for Kosovo's application for membership in the Council of Europe, Kosovo's aspirations to join the European Union, as well as the call for the five European bloc member states, which have not yet recognised Kosovo's independence, to do so.
Kosovo is invited to continue the reform process, the fight against organised crime and corruption, although it proves Kosovo has noted some progress in this regard.
According to the document, expected to be discussed on June 14th, the European Parliament is pleased that Kosovo has joined all EU positions on Russia's aggression against Ukraine, declared sanctions, and with a separate resolution in the Assembly has condemned this aggression.
However, Kosovo has been criticised for the situation in the judiciary.
Concern has been expressed with the reason that the judiciary continues to be inefficient and sensitive to political interference.
In this direction, the proposal for reform in the prosecution has been welcomed and has been called for the Venice Commission's opinion to be taken into account.
More than 300 amendments have been submitted for the report on Kosovo. A large number of them have been submitted by several deputies from Spain, who have proposed that all references treating Kosovo as a state be removed from the report.
Meanwhile, some MPs from the far right, mostly from France and Germany, have proposed that, instead of calling for visa liberalisation, the <x0-visuals should not be liberalised in the near future”.
After voting on the Commission for Foreign Policy, reports of all three states will be discussed and adopted as European Parliament resolutions.
These resolutions have political weight, but are not binding for EU member states
In Serbia's draft report, regret is expressed that this state has not supported EU sanctions against Russia.
It also calls on authorities in Serbia to prove true devotion to EU values and to adapt to EU decisions and attitudes in foreign and security policy”.
There have been many amendments proposed by some MPs to condition Serbia's negotiation process for EU membership with the introduction of sanctions on Russia.
