Commissie start dialoog met Kosovo over visavrij reizen (en)

The European Commission launched a visa liberalisation dialogue with Kosovo on 19 January. The aim of this dialogue is to eventually lift the visa obligation for citizens of Kosovo. This will only be possible, however, once the Government of Kosovo has implemented substantial reforms in key areas such as the security of travel documents; border, migration and asylum management; public order and security issues, notably the fight against organised crime and corruption, and fundamental rights issues related to the freedom of movement. "Our commitment to visa liberalisation for the citizens of Kosovo is real, and I am very pleased that we can now start making concrete progress towards this goal," said Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs. In previous years, the EU launched visa liberalisation dialogues with five Western Balkans countries in order to allow their citizens to travel to the EU without a visa. * under UNSCR 1244/1999