EC Adopts Visa-Free Travel for Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro

In a long-waited decision that has sparked enthusiastic reactions in some parts of the region and disillusionment in others, the European Commission has adopted a proposal for granting visa-free travel to the citizens of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and his counterpart from justice and home affairs, Jacques Barrot, presented the visa-liberalisation proposal in Brussels this afternoon. 

“Today’s proposal is very important and is the result of intensive and hard work for the authorities and the people of these countries in meeting the conditions [for visa liberalisation],” Barrot said.

Dialogue on visas started with Western Balkans countries in 2006, while visa liberalization process was launched in 2008. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania are also in the process, but are deemed to have not fulfilled the necessary conditions.

Rehn said he hoped that Bosnian and Herzegovina and Albania would soon catch up to their neighbours.

“If all conditions are fulfilled the commission could envisage making a new proposal, which would include them by mid 2010,” Rehn said.

As far as Macedonia is concerned, Barrot said the country had done "very well".

With regard to Montenegro, he said the EU was going to continue to closely monitor the implementation of the law of foreigners and the fight against organised crime.

On Serbia, Rehn said: "It is indeed the case that Kosovo, under [UN Resolution] 1244 is not part of present dialogue on visa liberalization. It is [an] objective fact that Kosovo doesn’t meet conditions because of security concerns...Cooperation between EULEX and Serbia is important."

Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania started the process to obtain visa-free travel to Europe early in 2008.  

However, Albania and Bosnia have been ranked at the end of the list and therefore will not be included in the first round of visa liberalization. According to EC sources, they will have to wait until mid-2010.
 
Once the proposal has been presented, it has to pass through the Council of Ministers and finally receive a green light from the European Parliament.

The decision at the ministers’ level does not require unanimous voting, therefore European officials are hoping that the whole procedure will be finished by the end of this year, so that citizens of the three countries can freely travel in the Schengen states as from January 2010.

In the meantime, citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania are lamenting the fact that they have been left out of the process.

Regarding Bosnia, Barrot had this to say: "Bosnia and Herzegovina does not yet have any biometric passports. If we had proposed to have BiH enter now into the system of lifting visas, then I wouldn’t have gotten approval from the council. We have to move in [a] step-by-step process, and since BiH have not been able to distribute these passports, that is the problem."

Regional Reactions

Teodora Knez-Milenkovic, 29, from Belgrade, Serbia, told Balkan Insight: "That is such wonderful news. Honestly, I cannot believe I'll be able just to get into my car and go wherever i want to. I cant wait!
 
Also speaking from Belgrade, Dragica Savicevic, 62, said: I haven't heard such good news for a while. Although its not quite clear to me how it applies to Serbs in Kosovo. But the news itself is good no matter what the price."

Nevena Georgievski, from Skopje, Macedonia told Balkan Insight that visa liberalisation would mean freedom "to be able to travel in Europe wherever and whenever you want, not having to plan the trip three months in advance and not having to collect a ton of documents just to be dependent on the good will of some administrative worker in the embassy."

"The visa scrapping will finally put an end to the limited movement of Macedonian citizens and will open new opportunities for business, education and communication. This chance should not be used for leaving the country but for learning new experiences, for importing European values at home," said Kiril, a 32-year-old Macedonian businessman.

In the Kosovo capital of Pristina, local resident Kaltrina Hoxha said: "It is fair that Kosovo is not part of the liberalisation process because we are not as ready as the other countries, but I feel sorry because we will not be able to travel as freely as our neighbours."

In Bosnia, the mood is one of disappointment and disillusionment, with many viewing the decision as an act, however indirect, of discrimination against Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), as Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs have the opportunity to hold dual citizenship with Serbia and Croatia and can thus take advantage of current visa liberalisation.

"This effectively means that only Bosniaks will not be able to travel freely in Europe, while the rest of the countries citizens will be able to move from country to country with no problem. I understand why Bosnia was not granted visa liberalisation, but nonetheless, the result is discrimination," Alma Begovic, 52, a resident of Sarajevo, told Balkan Insight.

Indeed, the Young European Federalist Movement, JEF, has criticized the EU visa liberalisation policy towards the Western Balkans, arguing that it could potentially create new divisions and anti-EU sentiments by leaving out Muslim minorities.

Moreover, European Parliament has had to contend with some strong criticism within its own ranks. The Green group in the European Parliament criticised the timing of the visa liberalisation announcement, which came only days after the 14th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys. The group called the decision "hypocritical and morally abject", according to a Reuters report.

Reuters also quoted Christian Schwarz-Schilling, the international community's former high representative to Bosnia, as slamming the decision to leave Bosnia out of the visa liberalisation process "a mockery and a blow against all European values".