The LONG-AWAITED visa abolition for citizens of Kosovo when entering the European Union came into force yesterday, reports the France Presse agency. The visa-free regime came into force at midnight from Sunday to Monday. Kosovars can now travel to Schengen area countries without visas for a period of 90 days within a 180-day period.

In Pristina, the reform is interpreted as another step toward full recognition of the state and toward the ambition, announced in 2008, to join the European Union. Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Spain and Slovakia still have not recognized Kosovo. “This is a great relief, the feeling is good,” entrepreneur Rushit Sopi told the France Presse agency before boarding a flight from Pristina to Vienna.

He was one of twenty quiz winners that the government organized to raise awareness of what visa abolition represents. The 48-year-old owner of a company that manufactures doors and windows regularly flies to the EU for business. “Each visa costs me 300 euros. When I last renewed my passport, I calculated that EU visas alone had cost me 2.5 thousand euros,” he said. 

“Europe has treated us as second-class citizens until now”

European embassies in Pristina, especially those exposed to great pressure to issue visas, such as the German consulate, prepared for more work. German ambassador Jorn Rohde personally issued the last visas to Kosovars a few days earlier, emphasizing that this era is finally coming to an end.

He invited Kosovars to visit his country this summer when the European Football Championship is being held. Kosovars welcomed January 1 with great enthusiasm, perceiving it as a “historic day” because their country moved closer to the Union. But at the same time they also criticize both Brussels and Pristina for such a long delay in abolishing the visa regime. 

Kosovo, a country with around 1.8 million inhabitants, is the last of the six Western Balkan countries to be allowed visa-free travel. “Europe has treated us as second-class citizens until now,” believes 61-year-old engineer Agim Gosalci. 

Kurti promoted the advantages of the new regime

“And our politicians are also responsible for such a long wait because one of the conditions for visa liberalization was the fight against corruption and organized crime,” said 33-year-old translator Adelina Kasolli. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke of a “historic decision”. 

“It brings significant benefits to both Kosovo and the EU,” he wrote on platform X. With an average salary of around 400 euros and youth unemployment of 20 percent, Kosovo is among the poorest European states. The government in Pristina spent the past two months conducting a campaign calling on residents not to abuse freedom of movement in order to seek employment in the Union.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti personally led the campaign, traveling across the country and presenting the advantages of the new regime. “This day is important. A great injustice has been abolished and a great right has been gained,” he told the quiz winners at Pristina airport.

There are fears of a labor shortage

He called on Kosovars to “respect the criteria and, wherever they travel, not forget that their home is Kosovo”. His deputy Besnik Bislimi, in charge of European affairs, warned against abuses of the regime that could lead to restrictive EU measures harmful “to the entire state”. 

Many fear that even greater labor shortages will occur. The Pristina institute Riinvest predicts that around 18 percent of private sector employees will resign and try to emigrate as early as this year. This could also affect Sopi’s doors and windows business, but on Monday he was focused only on Vienna, to which he was taking his wife who had never before been to an EU country. 

“The decision to abolish visas is more than welcome. We have family in Germany and Switzerland and it was time to visit them,” said his wife Valdete. 

Source: index.hr