Kosovo waiting for visa removal from Bosnia and Herzegovina could last years

Close to two years and nine months from signing the agreement for mutual recognition of IDs, under the Berlin Process, Kosovo citizens cannot move without visas towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The latter has not yet ratified the agreement for free movement, due to opposition from Serbian representatives to state institutions there.

As she showed her experience for visa equipment, in a response to TV Dukagjin, incumbent Deputy Prime Minister Emilia Rexhepi said she expects <x0-ratification to happen very quickly, despite the complexity of the current government in Bosnia”.

I recently visited Bosnia, on the occasion of commemorating the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, and I barely got a visa in just a few days, which is a major concern for citizens and also a financial expense. In mid-September, Bosniak representatives will come to visit us and plan to raise their voices in the House of Peoples on this issue, put it to the polls, and expect the support of Croatian representatives” as well, Emily Rexhepi, deputy prime minister in office, has declared.

The incumbent deputy prime minister stressed that expectations are in co-operation between Bosniaks and Croats.

We are in constant communication with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. (Elmedin) Konakovic, and he promised I would submit a visa removal proposal for Kosovo citizens to the Council of Ministers and pave the way for ratification in Parliament. Serbian representatives both in government and parliament are still very tough, and against this international agreement they themselves signed in Berlin, we hope that Bosniaks and Croats will be able to take this process to the end”, it has stressed.

Although as a party supports the agreement from the Berlin Process, referring to the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the deputy in the Federal Parliament, Amir Puric, told TV Dukagjini that he does not expect a quick solution.

“It is unrealistic to expect ratification of the agreement to occur at least a year or two. Given that the state level of governance is blocked, only rare technical decisions are made, and no single important issue will be resolved before the end of 2026, when the next elections --” will be held, Amir Puric, MP at Bosnia and Herzegovina's Federal Parliament (Naša Stranka), has declared.

Citing that the brother living in Kosovo has been repeatedly denied visas, the chairman of the association “Dania” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rizah Sokoli, said that the Albanian community mostly suffers from this situation.

A good example for BiH could be Greece, which has not recognised the Republic of Kosovo, but has recognised Kosovo documents. Of course, one day Bosnia and Herzegovina will also have to accept reality. This reality is the fact that Kosovo is an independent and sovereign state irreversibly, aimed at full integration into regional economic structures and that it will also become a member of the United Nations. This is a process that cannot be stopped”, Rizah Sokoli, head of the Society “Dardnia”.

Even the Kosovo government, in a response to television, said they are working actively and encourage BiH to meet its obligations.

This year's 1 January unilateral Kosovo lifted the visa regime for Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens until the Republika Srpska entity led by Milorad Dodik follows the blockade on the other side.