New freedom of travel – Kosovo celebrates visa-free access to the Schengen area – News

  • Since midnight, citizens of Kosovo have been allowed to enter the Schengen area without a visa.
  • According to the Reuters news agency, hundreds made use of this option at Pristina airport.
  • Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti welcomed the travelers at the airport and said: This day is important. A great injustice has now been eliminated.

“I now feel free as a bird because I can travel anywhere in Europe,” said Habib Spahiu, who wants to make a two-day visit to Vienna with his son. He was among a group of 50 people who won a state lottery paid for by the government.

Legend:

Prime Minister Albin Kurti (here is an archive photo) was at the airport in Pristina to welcome the first travelers who want to travel to the EU without a visa.

Keystone/Archive/VISAR KRYEZIU

The Schengen area allows more than 400 million people to travel freely between member countries without border controls. Strict requirements from EU member states and domestic disputes have delayed the process of Kosovo’s integration for many years.

In 2018, the EU declared that all requirements had been met. But France and the Netherlands stalled the decision, fearing a new wave of migration.

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Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. But the young state is still fighting to become a UN member. Objections from Serbia, Russia and China prevent this. The country is legally recognized by more than 110 countries, but its 1.8 million citizens can only travel to fewer than 20 countries without a visa. Kosovo is still one of the poorest countries in Europe and many see the visa exemption as an opportunity to get work abroad.

Kosovo is the last of the six Western Balkan countries for which this travel relief has come into force. The new regulation also applies to Switzerland, he had that Federal Council decided in the spring. However, Kosovars who want to work in Switzerland still need a work visa.

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