3 minutes agoKurti announces to people: By January 1st, Kosovo will lift visas for Bosnia and Herzegovina
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)The Berlin Summit of the Berlin Process will be held in Germany's capital on Monday, 14,10.2024. In this Sam, like any other year, agreements that affect Western Balkan states are expected to be signed. Under these preliminary decisions, agreement was signed on freedom of movement between Kosovo and Bosnia and [...]
The Berlin Summit of the Berlin Process will be held in Germany's capital on Monday, 14,10.2024.
In this Sam, like any other year, agreements that affect Western Balkan states are expected to be signed.
Under these preliminary decisions, agreement was signed on freedom of movement between Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, this agreement had not been implemented.
Despite the agreement on freedom of movement between the two countries, which stems from the Berlin Process, neither Bosniaks nor Kosovars can travel freely from Kosovo to Bosnia and Herzegovina and vice versa. All because such an agreement has not found support from all Bosnian Presidency entities, or said otherwise, has been blocked by Republika Srpska at the helm with Milorad Dodik.
In order for Kosovo citizens to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a visa is required, which is issued only on extraordinary occasions and only with the signing of the country's Foreign Affairs Minister. However, visa application is not made in Kosovo, but only in Skopje, Belgrade and Podgorica.
The Kosovo Assembly on February 23rd 2023 has ratified the agreement for free movement with IDs in the Western Balkans, but this has not happened in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Assembly. The same is expected to be voted on February 23rd, 2023, even at the Council of Ministers in Bosnia, but the Council had postponed this point. This agreement is one of three submitted in Berlin on November 3, 2022, under the Berlin Process.
To begin implementing the agreement, documents must be ratified in both parliaments within 18 months. According to the BiH Council of Ministers' decision from 2012, Kosovo citizens cannot travel to this state as tourists.
Recently, on May 28th 2024, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti during his meeting with Germany's Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin has recalled the importance of starting implementation of the literary travel agreement between Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The same issue, Kurti has raised him during the Cotor Summit on May 16, 2024.
For years, visa removal with Kosovo has been rejected by Milorad Dodik, who leads the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).
