EP and EU Council reach deal on visa liberalization with Kosovo

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The negotiating teams from the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU) reached a long-awaited agreement on granting short-stay visa freedom to Kosovo. The visa freedom should be in place by 2024 at the latest.

The visa liberalization would exempt the holders of passports issued by Kosovo from visa requirements on short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period by 2024, reads the agreement between the EP and EU Council.

After the agreement, the entire Western Balkans region would have a similar visa framework towards the Schengen area.

Kosovo is encouraged to align its external visa policy with that of the EU, and member states that do not yet have readmission agreements or arrangements with Kosovo should conclude such agreements or arrangements.

Rapporteur Thijs Reuten from the Netherlands said after the vote that Kosovo was the last country in the Western Balkans that did not have a travel-free regime with the EU.

“The European Parliament has been pushing tirelessly for this decision for years. Finally, the citizens of Kosovo will be able to travel to the EU for holidays, family visits and business trips without having to apply for a visa. This is a very important moment in the European future of the country,” said Reuten.

The European Parliament has supported visa liberalization with Kosovo since 2016, after the Commission declared that Kosovo fulfils the criteria of its roadmap for visa liberalization.

The deal on visa liberalization reached between the EP and EU Council will now have to be endorsed by the Civil Liberties Committee and the full house of the European Parliament, as well as the European Council.