Kosovo citizens can travel to Schengen visa-free from today

(Patria) - Kosovo citizens welcomed 2024 with the right to travel to the Schengen area without a visa. Kosovars will be able to travel to the Schengen region visa-free if they stay for less than 90 days. This development means that there is no longer a single country in the Western Balkans whose citizens need a visa to travel to this zone.

"An achievement after years of hard work. Visa-free travel brings key benefits for citizens on both sides, further strengthening Kosovo's relationship with the EU," stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports AA.

In 2012, European Union institutions tasked Kosovo with fulfilling 95 criteria to be eligible for visa-free travel. The process was repeatedly blocked due to Kosovo's failure to meet some criteria. The EU side also used visa-free travel as a "bait" or "reward" for steps it wanted Kosovo to take on many issues, including dialogue with Serbia.

Kosovo politicians also cited obtaining visa-free travel rights as a main promise in their campaigns for all elections held during that period.

Approximately one in three Kosovo citizens live in European countries, so visa exemption for Kosovars means much more than a tourist visit.

Kosovo could have received a positive response from EU institutions for visa-free travel in the first half of 2023 after many EU countries, especially Germany and Austria, convinced pessimistic countries like France and the Netherlands.

Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia gained the right to travel to the Schengen area visa-free in 2009, and Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2010. Although a year has passed since Kosovo applied for EU membership, it has not received a positive response in this regard. After Georgia was granted candidate status for EU membership in December, Kosovo remained the only country that applied for membership in the Union but has not yet received candidate status.

Following tensions in northern Kosovo during 2023, the EU imposed some punitive measures on the country. Specifically, the measures prevent the country from using EU funds in several areas. Kosovo leaders say they are doing their part to lift the "unjust" measures and demand their immediate lifting. Leaders also hope to gain support from EU countries for Kosovo to become a full member of the Council of Europe and to join the Partnership for Peace program, which is a prerequisite for NATO membership.