Citizens of Kosovo should be able to enter the European Union without a visa in the future. Such plans received support from the European Parliament today (April 18).
The approval of the visa-free regime by the MEPs is an important step on the way to closer cooperation between Pristina and the EU, said MEP Theis Rutten, who led the European Parliament team in the negotiations on the new rules for entry into the Union.
According to the plans, by the end of next year at the latest, Kosovars should be able to stay in EU member states twice a year for 90 days without a visa. The same rule applies to EU citizens who want to travel to Kosovo.
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement in principle on this issue back in December, and the EP has now given its formal consent. Kosovo is the only one of the six countries from the Western Balkans that still does not benefit from a visa-free regime with the EU.
In December, the government of Kosovo officially submitted a request to join the EU. The accession process is likely to be long and complicated. EU members Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia, as well as Serbia, refuse to recognize Kosovo's independence. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, but is still considered a breakaway territory by Belgrade.
