The government of Kosovo on Wednesday approved the package of draft laws for the justice system in Kosovo, including changes that are expected to occur in the Judicial Council, Prosecutorial Council, State Prosecution and courts.
Kosovo’s Minister of European Integration, Bekim Collaku, met today with the Council of Europe Head of Office in Pristina, Isabelle Servoz Gallucci, and informed her that the Kosovo government was making all necessary preparations to apply for membership of the Council of Europe. “I also notified Gallucci about our two priorities in the European agenda: the visa liberalization process and the signing of the Stabilization/Association Agreement.
Kosovo’s European Integration Minister, Bekim Collaku, said on Tuesday that the visa liberalization for Kosovo is a priority and that this issue is to the final stage. "Kosovo has only three weeks' time to fulfill the criteria for visa liberalization roadmap," Collaku said. He stressed that apart from the visa liberalization priority, other priorities for Kosovo include the membership in the EU and NATO. He added that the people of Kosovo must not abuse the visa liberalization once it is granted to Kosovo. “We all have to respect the rules,” Collaku said.
Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga said on Monday that Kosovo is on its final stage of fulfilling the criteria for visa liberalization. “We are in the final stage of fulfilling the criteria of the European Commission and the fulfillment of these criteria is now a matter of our political will to conclude the process,” Jahjaga said. She also said that during this year, Kosovo had different challenges and tensions which should be understood as a call to deepen the reform in Kosovo and to pave the way for economic prosperity for its people.
European Union Special Representative to Kosovo, Samuel Zbogar, called on Kosovo institutional leaders to focus on implementation of the visa liberalization criteria, particularly, in stepping up the fight against corruption and money laundering. Zbogar said that precious time was lost in the forming the institutions followed then by the migration crisis earlier in the year and this means that there is little time left in implementing the remaining visa liberalization requirements.
The Netherlands Ambassador to Kosovo, Robert Bosch, told KosovaPress news agency that the expectations that Kosovo will have visa liberalization within this year are unrealistic and says that in the most optimistic case, it might happen in early 2016.In regards to special court which will address war crimes allegations, Bosch said that although it still has nothing concrete in this regard, it is expected that this court become functional within this year.
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.
Dimitris Avramopolous, the European Commissioner for Migration, praised the downward trend in illegal migration from Kosovo, saying visa liberalisation with the EU was in reach.
The EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, lauded the recent drop in illegal migration to EU countries.
The European Union Commissioner for Migration, Internal Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said on Tuesday that very soon there will be some good news regarding visa liberalization for Kosovo. “Only with real results in fighting high-level corruption, and prevention of irregular migration, the EU will help the citizens of Kosovo, to travel without visas,” he said.