The European Parliament said on Thursday that its members had supported lifting visa requirements for the citizens of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, opening a way for visa liberalization to the only Balkan state whose citizens need visas to travel to the European Union.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2018) The European Parliament said on Thursday that its members had supported lifting visa requirements for the citizens of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, opening a way for visa liberalization to the only Balkan state whose citizens need visas to travel to the European Union.
"Parliament confirmed on Thursday the mandate for negotiations with the Council on the proposal to waive visa requirements for Kosovo's citizens. MEPs backed, with 420 votes to 186 and 22 abstentions, the decision by the Civil Liberties Committee to start discussions with the ministers on this legislative change," the parliament said in a statement.
The lifting of visa requirements for Kosovars now needs to be backed by the Council of the European Union to allow Kosovars with a biometric passport to enter the bloc without a visa.
In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia. It has been officially recognized by 23 out of 28 EU member states.
The European Commission launched a visa liberalization dialogue with Kosovo in 2012 by submitting to Pristina a roadmap including 95 criteria which Kosovo needs to meet in order to advance toward visa suspension.
In 2016, the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee backed the plan to abandon visas for Kosovo's citizens. However, the members of the EU parliamentary body required that the Kosovar authorities meet all the roadmap criteria, including the ratification of the border demarcation deal with Montenegro.
The landmark agreement was ratified last March.
In July, the European Commission confirmed that Kosovo had met all the benchmark requirements for visa liberalization.
