4 minutes agoEC expects liberalisation to take place for Kosovo Serbs with Serbia passports
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)The European Commission still expects member states to approve this institution's proposal that even Kosovo Serbs with Serbia's passports be allowed visa-free travel. On 16 November of last year, the European Commission proposed that Kosovo citizens equipped with Serbia's passports be included in the movement regime without [...]
On 16 November last year, the European Commission had proposed that Kosovo citizens equipped with Serbia's passports be included in the visa-free movement regime.
According to European Commission spokeswoman for home affairs Anita Hyperper, after this proposal and the same goes into effect, then all citizens of the Western Balkan region will travel without visas to Europe.
Kosovo Serbs (those who are not equipped with Kosovo passports) are the only citizens of the region not yet enjoying free movement in the Schengen area.
spokeswoman Anitta Hyper considers that Serb residents in Kosovo could also choose to apply for Kosovo biometric passports to travel visa-free from January 1st 2024.
When visas were liberalised for Serbia, Kosovo citizens with Serbian passports were excluded from the decision. The same happened in the case of lifting visas for Kosovo, where the decision involved only the bearer of biometric passports in the Republic of Kosovo.
Following the proposal approved by the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament is now taking over. The whole procedure takes time, while hoping the proposal will be adopted after the joint inter-institutional process.
The Kosovo government was declared against this proposal. In its argument sent to the headquarters of the European Union, the Kosovo executive considers that this proposal undermines the integration of the Kosovo Serb community and legitimises the parallel illegal structures of Serbia in Kosovo, whose disappearance is required by the EU. / RTK/
