Today, Kosovo’s European Integration Minister, Bekim Collaku, told members of the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration that he was satisfied with the report on visa liberalization prepared by Kosovo institutions. He said the input prepared by the government is already being evaluated by the European Commission. According to Collaku, the final decision by the European Commission will be positive for Kosovo.
Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj argues in an opinion piece that the main condition for Kosovo to obtain visa liberalization is the sentencing of senior officials in cases of corruption and organized crime. “The European Union wants proof of this. There is no more room for politicians because it seems that visa liberalization is now in the hands of Kosovo’s courts.
Representatives of the Kosovo institutions have pledged to prepare a final report on the fulfillment of the criteria for visa liberalization by 15 January 2016. A press release issued by the government said that Prime Minister Isa Mustafa met with representatives of the institutions in charge for fulfilling the visa liberalization criteria where it was said that concrete results on this regard will be published on 15 January.
Kosovo European Integration Minister, Bekim Collaku, told Radio Kosova that although this year Kosovo was not granted visa liberalization, such thing is expected in the first quarter of 2016. According to him, next year will start the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) which will affect Kosovo’s economy and free movement of goods. “Kosovo is successfully concluding the European integration process for this year.
The paper’s front-page editorial argues that different ministers of the Kosovo government make different statements on the same day and “this is nothing extraordinary for a government that includes a mixture of the close interests of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) that are above the public interest”.
Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said today that Kosovo fulfilled all the criteria for visa liberalization, and that the government now is meeting with all responsible institutions to see once again if any part of the recommendations of the EU has remained unfulfilled. “All the requirements are fulfilled but there are some parts of the recommendations that were not fulfilled, since the EU has given recommendations and not requirements,” Mustafa said.
Kosovo’s Minister for European Integration, Bekim Collaku, writes in an opinion piece that the European Commission’s visa liberalization report on Kosovo, which was published last Friday, is the last of its kind and that the citizens of Kosovo will be able to travel visa free in 2016.
Kosovo is appealing to Brussels to grant its citizens visa-free travel to the EU. But at a time of crises in migration, terrorism and people-smuggling, some are sceptical. A decision on the waiver is expected in the coming days.
The European Commission is reported to have postponed the publishing of the report on implementation of the visa liberalization roadmap by Kosovo institutions. Sources inside the EU Office in Kosovo had said that the report would be published on 17 December but according to fresh information Telegrafi claims to have secured, the new date is now either 24 December or even January. The report meanwhile could go back for discussion at the technical and political levels of the European Union.
The paper’s columnist Lumir Abdixhiku writes today that visa liberalization wouldn't solve the problems of Kosovo citizens. Also, according to Abdixhiku, the right of free movement - taken as the last in the region - does not make any achievement. “Visa liberalization, however, would bring a glimmer of hope for Kosovars. It would bring a dignified treatment that Europe gives to young Europeans. But it did not happen.