Netherlands: No visa liberalization without rule of law (Koha)
The paper covers a study visit to The Hague by reporters from Kosovo, Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, highlighting remarks by senior Dutch officials that the people of Kosovo will remain the most isolated in Europe until there is absolute rule of law in Kosovo. They also said that the position of 28 member states of the European Union will change only after reports show that Kosovo institutions are making considerable progress in the judiciary. “The rule of law is certainly the biggest challenge,” Hagar Ligtvoet, an official with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the paper. Some Dutch MPs, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed that the European Union has introduced strict criteria after the economic crisis and the influx of Bulgarians and Romanians into European labor markets. They said they will not allow the same “mistake” to be made in the case of the Western Balkans.