Visa lift vote for Serbian passport owners in Kosovo

The Committee for Civil Freedoms, Justice and Internal Affairs has voted in favour of lifting the visa regime for Kosovo citizens who possess only passports issued by Serbian organs.

For that decision, 34 eurodeputs have voted, 7 opposed, while 12 have abstained.

The European Parliament's visa rapporteur, Euro-Deputet Matjazh Nemec, has ruled that lifting visas for Kosovo Serb residents is an important step to prevent discrimination against these citizens, who, according to him, risk being treated differently from other Western Balkan residents.

This technical decision is not an attempt to resolve the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, but a pragmatic solution to ensure equal treatment” has praised Nemec.

The next step will be to vote at the European Parliament's plenary session between April 22nd and 25th.

After west of the procedures in Parliament, the file passes to the Council of the European Union, where member states ministers also have to vote on the decision.

Following visa liberalisation for Kosovo, the citizens of the country who own only Serbian passports remained the only ones in the Western Balkans who do not enjoy freedom of movement in the Schengen area.

This category of citizens was not included in visa liberalisation for both Kosovo and Serbia when the visa regime was lifted in December 2009.

That is why in November last year the European Commission proposed lifting visas for even possession of Serbian passports in Kosovo.

Only after completing procedures on the two institutions is the decision published in the official newspaper along with the date when Kosovo citizens who possess only Serbia's passports can enjoy free movement in the Schengen area.