Citizens of Kosovo will be able to travel visa-free for short stays in Schengen zone countries from January 1, 2024, the German Embassy in Kosovo announced.
The European Union adopted the visa waiver for Kosovo passport holders in April this year, emphasizing that they would be eligible to travel without additional requirements such as visas, from next year at the latest . SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
However, concerns were raised after French President Emmanuel Macron said his country could review commitments it made on the political and economic issues of visas for Kosovo and Serbia.
France and Germany have made their promises on visa policy and other economic issues, which will be revisited if both sides do not behave responsibly. We must be very careful in this regard, especially when the stability of the Western Balkans is threatened.
Paris’ comments were not as well received. They were further criticized by the rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament, Viola von Cramon. According to her, The visa waiver for Kosovars is not and should not be linked to the dialogue with Serbia.
Von Cramon said the European Union must keep its promise to allow Kosovo citizens visa-free travel from next year.
Considering that such a decision would have a negative impact, the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, stressed that any suspension of visa-free travel to the EU for Kosovo would “kill dialogue with Serbia” once for all.
In response to Macron’s comments, the German federal government also confirmed to Express newspaper earlier this year that the country’s position remains unchanged when it comes to this question.
The German position remains unchanged: we support the decisions of the Council of the European Union on visa liberalization.
Kosovars are eager to travel to other countries without a visa. But they have been waiting for more than ten years now, while the process has not yet been finalized, even though the Balkan country meets all the necessary conditions, according to the European Commission’s estimate in 2018.
Kosovo and Serbia aspire to become members of the European Union. However, Brussels stressed that they should first resolve their dispute through a mediated dialogue.
Kosovo is placed at 186th position in the VisaGuide.World Passport Index, which ranks passports from a total of 199 countries based on their passport strength.
With a passport score of 12.55, it allows its holders to travel visa-free to only 13 countries and passport-free to only two countries, while a visa is required to travel to a total of 131 countries.