The European Commission confirmed on Wednesday that Kosovo has fulfilled all the criteria for visa liberalisation.
"All of Kosovo's efforts and hard work towards visa liberalisation have paid off, and therefore today we can confirm that Kosovo has fulfilled all benchmarks towards visa liberalisation," the Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said during a joint press conference with the President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci.
President Thaci called the moment historic. "Today's decision by the European Commission ... is one of the best news that the citizens of Kosovo have been awaiting for decades," Thaci stated.
He said that the last "kilometers" of this process had been long and difficut but Kosovo had reached a very important target, and he was convinced that by the end of the year, Kosovo citizens would be able to travel in EU countries without needing to seek visas.
"Today, the last isolation wall in the whole of European society began to collapse," Thaci stated, adding that "Kosovo and EU have won".
The European Commission recommended visa liberalisation for Kosovo in 2016, but said the country had first to fulfill two criteria, border demarcation with Montenegro and tackling corruption and organised crime.
Kosovo's parliament finally approved the long-contested border demarcation agreement with Montenegro on March 21 amid protests and teargas.
The agreement was signed in 2015, but Kosovo failed to ratify it due to strong opposition from several parties that claimed it deprived Kosovo of territory. Ratification was postponed following violent clashes over the issue.
Since ratification of the agreement, Kosovo had only to meet the criterion about fighting against corruption and organised crime.
However, "Kosovo has demonstrated full commitment in fighting corruption and organised crime," Avramopoulos told the media.
He called on the European Parliament and the Council to move forward with the procedures. "I now call on the European Parliament and Council to swiftly adopt our proposal on lifting visa requirements for Kosovo citizens," Avramopoulos said.
(Source: Balkaninsight)