EU Visa Policy Might Create Muslim Ghettos

Discrimination on ethnic or religious grounds? Come on! Look at the political crisis in BIH, at what has recently happened in Albania around the elections and finally Kosovo: this sort of statehood led by criminals and created in violation of international law and Helsinki Final Act in particular. Simply irresponsible to lift the visa regime for the time being.

It is the very, and I don't support this but the fact that radical islam is firmly entrenched in Bosnia and Kosmet and the reason they have not put them on the list as it would create a wave of migration out of those countries to western Europe.

Why not give the VISA now.. I mean is it not the EU that firstly created the banana republic of BiH and the mickey mouse state of Kosovo..now they dont want to give them the VISAS?

This is a tipical example of the ethic's EU crisis by awarding serbian genocide excutors in one side and discriminating their victims Albanians and Bosniacs on other side ! Shame on EU. (but the EU will pay the price anyway!)

This is not religious but to do this for Serbia on the same week as Srebrenica genocide--the worst massacre since WWII--it's a travesty. Albania will get out by Juy next year as well but Bosnia and Kosova are stuck for a long while. Kosova needs to get recognized by all and do the reforms, Bosnia is stuck with the genociders on the other side blocking everything. EU, enjoy the monsters that were responsible for the worst massacres and war crimes since WWII.

Terrible news

I think that it is heartbreaking that one should consider the political situation and discrimination against one particular group of people as a legitimate reason to exclude Bosnia from the visa-free policy. The problem is not Bosnia itself, it is nationalism fueled by the perpetrators of ethnic cleansing and genocide. We need to be reminded that the only people of Bosnia who will be excluded from the visa-free requirements are the VICTIMS OF ETHNIC CLEANSING AND GENOCIDE.

As far as I could remember, just a few days ago Albanian politicians hailed EU decision to ban them visa-free travel in the EU countries. Why then, in the God's name, some guy named "Peter Matjasic" from some obscure "The Young European Federalist Movement, JEF", is so eager to interfere in Albanian business?

The EU should make a conscientious effort to treat Albanian,Bosnian and Kosovar-Albanian Muslims especially the law abiding Muslims the same way they are treating the Croats & Serbs with fairness.

AAAAA claims radical Islam in the Balkans. This is a poor excuse Serbs have been using for years if not centuries. Yet Serbia meet with Palestinian President. Radical Serbian Christinanity, is a distorted version of Chrisitinaity. No religion encourages rapes, murder and genocide but the Serbian Orthodox Church. This is a fact. Enough with the radical Islam excuse. Kosova or Albanians for that matter have never been religious extremists. There is more freedom in Kosova that anywhere in the Balkans at this moment in time.

This issue can be easily resolved if both the Albanians and muslims of Bosnia cast away Islam and embrace christianity and join their fellow Europeans in harmony.

I think JEF has a valid point. To respond to the comment above I would not go as far as to consider the Kosovo Albanians as a radical islam knowing their religious tolerance and I bet that this comment must come from a Serb. Furthermore there is no need to be worried about Albanian migration since most of the Albanians, be that from Kosova or Albania proper, have already migrated. There aren't that many people left to migrate but only cats and dogs. I think that the EU should worry about Serbian and Macedonian migration since their economy is not much better then the Albanian economy. I also think that the EU should worry about millions of Rumanians, and most of the sllavic countries that have invadet Italy and all the western Europe since they were accepted. By the way, you can not hold a nation hostage because the election were not on the standard required, although there was alot of progress. Let's not forgett that even USA, the most democratic country in the world, had some problems with elections. I rest my case.

simply meet the criteria and enjoy visa-less travel; if you don't meet the criteria, however, don't whine about ... islamophobia. Just meet the criteria

EU Visa Policy...

Bosnia is Croatia. You will return to your proper roots soon enough. Together as united lost brothers we will march into the future.

THis ist Europa!What a criteri mus tu meet Albenians and Boshnjaks?To kill their neighbors yes?!

THIS IS JUST A NEW STEP OF EU TO DISTANCE SERBIA FROM RUSSIA. THEN TAKE CONTROL OVER SERBS, AND THEN GIVE VOJVODINA INDEPENDENCE. THEN, GIVE ALSO KOSOVO BACK THE LAND OF PRESHEVA, MEDVEDJA AND BUJANOVC. THEN, GIVE HUNGARY BACK THEIR PART OF LAND SERBS STOLE FROM....ETC ETC. AND, IF SERBS DON'T LIKE IT, THEY CAN GO BACK TO RUSSIA WHERE THEY CAME FROM.

Dear "Hawk", if you would read the article in detail and especially the PR we sent out and served as basis for the quotes you could see that JEF doesn't 'interfere in Albanian business' at all. Actually, we agree with the Commission that Albania didn't fulfill the criteria and was left out of the current visa liberalisation with good reason. However, this doesn't apply to Bosnia and Herzegovina that's why we critize that and explain that BiH is a special case where a certain part of its citizens can already travel visa-free. And on the issue of Kosovo we simply stress the absurdity of the situation. You can read our PR here: http://www.jef.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=612&Itemid=344 Peter Matjasic, Secretary-General of the not-so-obscure Young European Federalists;-)

This is radiclous. The EU still bahves like they have eaten wisdom with spoons. It´s sickening and very disturbing. Like a user above has posted, this will play radicals into hands and give them another point on their islam-agenda. This is really annoying. Get a grip people. You can´t give 2 of three kids a cake.. what do you think will the one that doesn´t get a piece behave?

This is radiclous. The EU still bahves like they have eaten wisdom with spoons. It´s sickening and very disturbing. Like a user above has posted, this will play radicals into hands and give them another point on their islam-agenda. This is really annoying. Get a grip people. You can´t give 2 of three kids a cake.. what do you think will the one that doesn´t get a piece behave?

Dear Peter, Firstly I hope you'll accept my sincere apology for my rather clumsy usage of yours and the name of JEF Movement. My intention was not to involve you into the matter but to emphasize rather absurd hails of K-Albanian politicians about EU's ban on visa-free regime regarding Kosovo. So, if the highest K-Albanian politicians claim that was a good decision, I think no one from aside should contradict them and claim otherwise, including JEF Movement. I've been sarcastic of course, since the banning of visas is a highly political (not "only" a technical) question - as you as a EU MP must know much better then me. I had a opportunity to serve as a part of the Intl. administration both in Bosnia and Kosovo for almost 4 years, and I had an excellent chance to see the real situation on the ground which is extremely different from the situation IC eagerly trying to portrait. Believe me, I haven't met a single of my colleague officers who was not aware that the situation in Bosnia and especially in Kosovo is catastrophic in a sense of ethnic divisions. Those societies are deeply divided across the ethnic lines. But yet when it comes to the official announcements, everyone is ordered to portrait the situation as hanky-dory. And believe me, that hypocrisy is what angers me the most. With that attitude not a single of existing problems will be solved in a foreseeable future. Why is that, I don't know. Maybe you, as someone who is in the center of EU politics, could explain it better to me and to the others. I've read your PR following the link you provided and must say that I could agree with JEF position in principle. But there are many points in which we diverge very much. Above all because I sense you don't correctly portraying the situation. First of all, "Bosniaks" are not "mainly" B-Muslims. All of the Bosniaks ARE B-Muslims. I haven't met a single B-Croat and very few B-Serbs who are ready to refer to themselves as to a "Bosniaks". Secondly, I strongly disagree that new visa regime, as you put it, will contribute to further ethnic divisions. B-Croats, B-Serbs and B-Muslims are so deeply divided that there is not a single thing that could divide them more. On the other hand could agree with your claim that B-Muslims are in a sense, discriminated by that decision. But the solution, as I stated many times before, don't lie in a pursuing of a Unitary state. Bosnia will never be Unitary state as today's B-Muslim political elite is pushing for. B-Croats and B-Serbs simply don't want to live with B-Muslims and that's a hard fact. And every single mention of RoS as a "genocidal creation" is cementing that fact more. Solution for B-Muslims is simple. They must stop to look outside of their community and turn to themselves. They must pursue EU goal by themselves, not to wait someone else to take them to the EU. If they wait for B-Croats and B-Serbs to take them to the EU (as in Unitary Bosnia), they could easily find themselves in the situation that they'll never become a part of EU. As far as morality is concerned, I find that question as a walk on a thin ice. Above all because of so-called Intl.Community. Although I am very strongly in favor that gen.Mladic must be apprehended and extradited to Hague, and that Serbian parliament must acknowledge Srebrenica massacre, I am also in favor that B-Muslim parliament must acknowledge massacres that their forces committed on B-Serbian civilians during 92-95 war. And above all I am not ready to listen to the lessons on morality from someone who LIED UNDER OATH that he never had sexual encounters with mrs.Lewinsky, and form someone who invaded foreign country on the FALSE CLAIMS that that country possessed WoMD. So, if you really want to help Bosniaks, my advice to you is: go to Sarajevo but don't facilitate Bosniak's unrealistic dreams of Unitary Bosnia as a only solution to the EU. Go there and tell them the truth. That they must take their lives into their own hands and pursue the future regardless of B-Croats and B-Serbs. That is the only way for them. Kosovo is a completely different matter. Having in mind that their UDI is not "recognized" by 5 EU states, they will continue to linger in a limbo for a long, long time. But knowing K-Albanians very well, I am not afraid for them a single bit. They are very practical people. Many of them will take Serbian or Macedonian or Montenegrian citizenship for the time being (since the border between Albania, Kosovo and Albanian parts in Macedonia and Montenegro virtually doesn't exist). And then, one day when Albania join visa-free countries, they'll go there and take Albanian citizenship. Sorry for this long post, but I wanted my stance on the matter to be perfectly clear. Alexander Radu - "Hawk", citizen

This is nothing new to the bosnian people bosnjiaks in particular. How the hell we accomplish anything when the serb entity blocks any kind of progress, this is why we need the OHR to implement change no matter how slow it takes. And why should be bosnian leaders try to meet the demands of the bosnian serbs who were the ones killing them during the war and even try to take away state powers from government to the entity. THE PROBLEM IN BOSNIA IS NOT THE PEOPLE ITS THE BOSNIAN-SERB REPUBLIC which wants no part of bosnia and wants to brake away since they have full support of the neighboors(serbia) economically and politically. You want progress in bosnia? abolish the entities and have one central government that looks out for the good of the country not a certain type of people stop worrying about another "ethnic-war" which wont ever happen again since the world wont let it (america in particular, the only country that still shows hope for bosnia). Again let me repeat myself, the problem in bosnia is the bosnian serb government which want nothing but the power up the entity so that mr.dodick can keep stealing more money from his own people . The serbs block all progress in the legislature so either change the dayton or abolish the entities because nothing will change if things remain as it is.

Oh, yes, indeed the Bosniaks must take their lives in their own hand, as you said, "regardless of B-Serbs and B-Croats." But not the way you think. You will see.

The free visa travel it's surely a good news, but I don't like the way that Europe conducts this policy in the Balkans. If a country cannot catch up the criterias the consequences are that country cannot achieve the free travel visa.simply. but why the serbs who live in Kosovo cannot receive this benefit?They are serbs not albanians!They will not ever join the new mafia self-proclamed institutions in Kosovo.They want to stay with Serbia under her jurisdiction and it's absolutely humiliating for them to be considered like the albanians who want to stay in a mafia state!!! Albanians have already a state and it is Albania they don't have the right to create another one!!!!

Are comments like those by EXPERT really necessary? The EU chose those countries, because they are the most developed and have met the required criteria, while the others didn't. Simple. The fact that those that weren't chosen are Muslim, well, you're the ones politicizing it, aren't you?

Would you please, please, please!!!! stop threatening people with another war in B&H. No More WARS! Enough! Stop for a while and think a little bit about your attitude, and then you'll realize why EU didn't grant visa free travel to the B-Muslims. If you hate EU so much, and you blame them (not you or B-Muslim political elite) for everything and constantly threatening with another war, how could someone be sure what you are capable to do if you're allowed to roam free across the Europe without any control. I'm not referring to you personally, but to those B-Muslims who live in the past - seeking revenge - and don't want to look into the future. That way you'll go nowhere.