European Parliament rapporteur for Kosovo, Igor Soltes, said in an interview with European Interest news website that Kosovo has fulfilled all the criteria for visa liberalisation and that the people of Kosovo feel disappointed after no positive decision was taken. “They believe that the country doesn’t deserve this. This is to give you an example of how problematic it can become when you promise something, and you don’t keep your promise. We in the European Parliament and also the Commission have a positive position, but the final decision is up to the European Council. We are talking only about the visa liberalisation which will help not only Kosovo but the entire region to avoid isolation,” Soltes said. He emphasized that Kosovo is the only country in the Western Balkans where visa requirements are still in place. Asked about the Western Balkans European integration process, Soltes warned that progress cannot be achieved if the region is left waiting: “Now if we leave the Western Balkan countries in the waiting room too long, we cannot expect that everything will move in the right direction. Nationalists will emerge sooner or later arguing that the ‘European bureaucrats’ betrayed them, promised a lot in order to make important changes but they don’t have even the candidate country status yet.”
Soltes: Kosovo has fulfilled all visa liberalisation criteria (European Interest/Koha)
- Published: 5 years ago on 30/01/2019
- By: OSPI-rq
- Last Modified: January 30, 2019 @ 1:12 pm
- Filed Under: Articles from Kosovo media
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