The EU removed the text on visa liberalization from the agenda due to the situation in the north of Kosovo

The Czech Republic, which presides the European Union, has decided to postpone the adoption of the text on visa liberalization for Kosovo due to political conditions and tensions in the north.

"Due to the political events in the north of Kosovo, that item on tomorrow’s agenda of COREPER (EU ambassadors) does not seem ideal. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the item until next week (November 30)," reads the memo sent by the Czech presidency member to the states of the European Union (EU).

Namely, on Wednesday, November 23, it is planned to adopt a text on visa liberalization at the meeting of ambassadors of EU member states. According to it, the abolition of the visa regime would come into force when the ETIAS information system would be fully functional or on January 1, 2024, at latest.

That step would enable the continuation of the relevant legal procedures toward the final decision to abolish the visa regime for citizens of Kosovo.

Experts from the EU member states agreed on the final text in a meeting on Tuesday, November 22. Spain's request that the end date should not coincide with the country's EU presidency was accepted.

Spain has not recognized Kosovo's independence, which is why it requested that the date should not coincide with its presidency between July 1 and December 31, 2023.

That is the reason Spain is one of the countries that on November 16 interrupted the so-called silent procedure when the previous text was supposed to be agreed upon, by which visa liberalization would enter into force on December 1, 2023, at latest.

The situation in the north of Kosovo, where the Serb-majority population lives, has worsened due to the decision of the Kosovo government to start re-registration of vehicles with the Serbian license plates, which are considered illegal, to Kosovan ones.

The crisis in Pristina-Belgrade relations was assessed by the European Union as "the most serious since 2013".

This was the reason why the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, convened an emergency meeting of the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia on November 21, but no agreement was reached. Borell shifted the responsibility for the collapse of the meeting to the Kosovo side.

The Kosovan authorities announced that on November 21 they would start penalizing the owners of cars with Serbian registrations, but after a failed meeting in Brussels, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti decided to postpone the implementation of this decision for 48 hours.

On Wednesday, the chief negotiators of Serbia and Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkovic, will be in Brussels in another effort to find a solution to the crisis over the license plates.