An informative campaign on the rules of visa-free travel to the Schengen Area has officially been launched today by Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, which, as he says, will prepare Kosovars for “what’s on the horizon.”
This is the final step of a much-sought-after and long-delayed process prior to the implementation of the visa-free deal, with the PM confirming that the same will finally start implementing from January 1, 2024.
After a long wait & much hard work, esp. over the past two years, visa liberalisation for citizens is finally coming on January 1. Today, together with our partners, we kicked off an information campaign on the rules of visa-free travel to prepare our citizens for what’s on the horizon.”
Kosovo’s joining in the rest of the Western Balkan neighbouring countries that do not need a visa to travel to European Union countries for short-term stays has also been confirmed by the German Embassy in Kosovo earlier this week.
It means that from January 1, 2024, Kosovo passport holders will be eligible to head to any of the EU’s Schengen Zone states and stay there for 90 days within a 180-day period starting from the date of entry, for purposes as tourism, business, family visit, cultural and sport, or official visits, among others.
The visa-free travel deal for holders of Kosovo passport has been adopted by the EU in April this year. However, concerns had araised following France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, comments that his country might review the commitments it has made on political and economic issues of visas for Kosovo and Serbia.
Such comments were criticised by the Rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament, Viola von Cramon, who stressed that this process is not and should not be linked with the dialogue with Serbia. The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, on the other hand, had warned that any suspension of visa-free travel to the EU for Kosovars would kill the dialogue with Serbia once and for all.
Kosovo and Serbia aim to become members of the EU, but Brussels emphasised that they should at first solve their dispute through a mediated dialogue.
On December 14 last year, Kosovo officially submitted the application for membership in the EU, and it is waiting for this process to be finalised. Last month, the Chair of the European Committee for NATO (NGO), Gunther Fehlinger, said that Kosovo should be part of the bloc by 2029.
