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Over the past seven years, I have studied and worked in seven countries on three continents. This would never have been possible without the institutional and financial support provided by EU government institutions and the freedom to travel without restrictions. During my Erasmus+ exchange semester at the Free University of Berlin in 2014, I met two people: Dušica and Sahit, both Erasmus+ students with whom I formed lasting friendships. Dušica, from Belgrade, taught me how to write a perfect CV and Sahit, from Prishtina, helped me learn to cook, which delighted my mother.
Seven years later, meeting my Erasmus+ friend Dušica is easy and just a bus ride from Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, meeting Sahit is a nightmare – not because we are no longer friends, but because every time I want to go to Prishtina, as a Bosnian citizen, I also have to go through a Kafkaesque procedure to get a visa for the Kosovo. Erasmus+ brought us closer together, but the Bosnia-Kosovo visa regime has separated us for years.
To put things in perspective, I had an easier time getting a visa to enter the US or UK than trying to get to Kosovo. My Kosovar friends find it even more difficult to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina because my country does not recognize Kosovo travel documents. I find this deeply troubling, not only because we cannot visit each other, but also because the visa regime jeopardizes our freedom of movement, one of the most fundamental human rights.
Considering that young people from the entire region want more and more With a strong hand and authoritative leadership, visa-free travel becomes much more than just a convenient way to meet others in the region. However, in recent years, young people from the Western Balkans have typically met their peers from the region thousands of miles away, somewhere “on neutral ground”.
For example, university students from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are unlikely to meet in the region. For a student of the University of Sarajevo, it is easier to spend an exchange semester in the EU, Russia or China than at the University of Prishtina. This is not because Bosnian students do not want to meet their peers from Kosovo, but because the lack of structural funds to support university student exchange programs and the visa regime hinder academic mobility.
EU credibility at stake
At the same time, the European Union is also not facilitating the movement of Kosovars within the Schengen area, even though the Kosovo governments have fulfilled all the conditions required for visa liberalization. At last month’s GLOBSEC forum in Bratislava, I asked Miroslav Lajčak why Western Balkan leaders should trust EU promises, given that the EU has failed to liberalize visas to Kosovo. Lajčak, who currently serves as EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and other regional issues in the Western Balkans, said: “If you don’t trust the EU, go elsewhere,” adding that “ the leaders of Kosovo should visit these countries.” blocking the freedom to travel and asking how to comply.
Lajčak’s response was not only undiplomatic and arrogant, but also deeply disappointing, as it is more than clear that the Western Balkan countries have nowhere “else” to go but to the EU. Furthermore, it should now be obvious to any European diplomat that EU enlargement will benefit not only the Western Balkans, but the EU as a whole. Above all, the EU’s failure to honor its promise to abolish the visa regime not only fails the people of Kosovo, but also seriously damages the EU’s credibility in the entire region.
Therefore, in order to fulfill its commitments and preserve its credibility in the region, the EU must take a long-awaited step by allowing citizens of Kosovo to travel visa-free. At the same time, in order to foster regional cooperation, improve bilateral relations and renew family ties, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo must abolish the existing visa regime as a matter of priority.
There is a good chance that some of these long-standing issues will be resolved today at the Berlin Process’s Western Balkans summit in Berlin. Western Balkan leaders are expected to address, among other topics, travel to the region using ID cards only. The newly proposed agreement would allow citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo to travel throughout the region without the need for a visa.
In addition to the Regional Cooperation Council, several EU member states, including Germany, have helped facilitate this dialogue, leaving us with some optimism that six countries will reach a final agreement. Numerous NGOs, academics, civil society and political activists, as well as business representatives from the six Western Balkan countries as well as EU member states supported a request initiated by the Balkan Forum, a Prishtina-based think tank demanding EU member states and Western Balkan leaders to allow freedom of movement for all Western Balkan citizens.
Traveling without a visa would not only make it easier for me to visit my Erasmus+ friend, Sahit, in Prishtina, but it would also serve as a tool to boost the economy, promote student mobility and enforce human rights standards. man in the Western Balkans. Above all, the abolition of visa regimes would deeply unite the region’s youth, which should be a goal that extends beyond our generation. Without a united Western Balkan youth, there will be no united Western Balkans.
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