Kosovo and Israel, with an agreement on visa waiver

2024-06-18 14:58:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kosovo and Israel, with an agreement on visa waiver

Signing of the visa waiver agreement between Kosovo and Israel

Israel has removed visas for citizens of Kosovo, thus becoming the 50th country that allows free movement for Kosovars.

The signing of the agreement between the two states took place today, June 18, in Pristina, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of Kosovo, Donika Gërvalla, and the Minister of the Interior of Israel, Moshe Arbel.

Earlier in the day, Arbel was hosted by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti. The two countries formalized diplomatic relations in February 2021.

They were preceded by what is known as the Washington Agreement, which Kosovo and Serbia signed on September 4, 2020, in order to normalize economic relations.

Kosovo opened its embassy in Jerusalem in July 2021, in exchange for Israel recognizing its independence. Israel is the last country to recognize Kosovo's independence.

From the establishment of diplomatic relations, Kosovo also marked an increase in commercial exchanges.

In 2022, the value of imports from this country reached 42 million euros - from 22 million in 2020 when the two countries did not have diplomatic relations.

The same happened with exports, from 85,000 euros in 2020 - they increased to 783,000 euros in 2022, according to Kosovo Customs Data.

Kosovo imports mainly fuel and plastic products from Israel, while it mainly exports textile products.

The announcement that Israel has agreed to remove visas for Kosovars was made at the beginning of this year by the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani.

From January 1, citizens of Kosovo with biometric passports travel freely in the countries of the Schengen area, in Europe.

Meanwhile, on January 5, it was announced that they can also visit Spain, after an announcement from the Department for Migration and Internal Affairs of the European Commission, that Spain already recognizes the ordinary Kosovar passport.

The liberalization of visas enables citizens of Kosovo, who have biometric passports, to stay up to 90 days - within six months - in any of the 27 member states of the Schengen area.

Visa-free travel is for tourist visits, family matters or similar. However, visa liberalization does not mean work permits or other benefits.

Currently, there are 107 countries that continue to require visas for visits from Kosovo, while 39 countries provide visas on arrival for citizens of Kosovo./ Rel