Besa Shahini, analyst with the European Stability Initiative think tank, writes in an opinion piece that it is difficult to actually pinpoint whether technical criteria of the visa liberalization process are being implemented in Kosovo as the assessment from the European Commission contains a vague vocabulary. The latest assessment of July 2014 speaks about the progress and recommendations for the future but, according to Shahini, it does not give clear evaluation of whether the necessary requirements were met or not. “And this is the difference between Kosovo and other countries that have been successful in the liberalization process,” she writes adding that for all other countries the EC has listed each requirement and assessed it by using terms such as: requirement fulfilled, almost fulfilled, partially fulfilled, or not fulfilled. “For other countries, the assessment was very strict but fair. For Kosovo, it is neither strict nor fair.” This needs to change and the European Commission should begin to assess Kosovo in a strict but also fair fashion. It needs to clearly specify which requirements are on the right track and which are not.
