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The EU Council revokes the visas of Kosovo Serbs

2024-07-22 13:01:44, Kosova & Bota CNA
The EU Council revokes the visas of Kosovo Serbs
EU headquarters in Brussels. Source, AP

The Council of the European Union took the decision to remove the visa regime for citizens of Kosovo who possess Serbian passports, issued by the Coordinating Directorate of Serbia.

The decision was taken at the level of Foreign Ministers at the last meeting of this semester.

All legislative processes end with it.

Once it enters into force - which is expected to happen on the 20th day after publication in the EU's Official Journal - the decision will begin to apply in all EU member states.

"Today, the Council of the EU adopted a regulation ensuring that the entire Western Balkans region is subject to the same visa regime, canceling the exemption that previously applied to holders of Serbian passports issued by the Coordination Directorate of Serbia". says the EU statement.

The procedures for canceling the visa regime for citizens of Kosovo with Serbian passports started in the wake of the liberalization of visas for Kosovo, from January 1 of this year.

With the abolition of visas for citizens with Kosovo passports, citizens who only possessed documents issued by the Coordinating Directorate of Serbia - which operates within the Serbian Ministry of the Interior in Belgrade - remained the only ones in the region who needed visas to travel to free movement zone, Schengen.

The European Commission proposed to waive visas for them in November last year.

The European Parliament voted on this issue in April this year.

These decisions prompted reactions from the Kosovo government.

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi said in November 2023 that "the recognition of these documents undermines the integration of the Serbian community" and "damages our long-standing efforts [for the integration of Serbs]".

Kosovo does not recognize the passports in question and their holders cannot fly with them from Pristina airport./ REL





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