European Commission: Abolish visas for holders of Serbian passports issued by the Coordination Directorate in Kosovo

The European Commission has proposed the abolition of visas for citizens in Kosovo holding passports issued by the Coordination Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia.

With the entry into force of the visa waiver for holders of Kosovo passports, the Commission believes that there are no longer reasons to exclude holders of Serbian passports issued by the Coordination Directorate of Serbia from this exemption. All citizens of the Western Balkans region should benefit from visa-free travel to Schengen countries.

For this reason, the Commission proposes amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 so that holders of Serbian passports issued by the Coordination Directorate of Serbia are exempt from the visa requirement when crossing the external borders of the EU for a stay not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period.

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, stated on April 22, speaking about visa liberalization for citizens of Kosovo, that he believed the issue of the Serbs from Kosovo who did not want to take a passport from Pristina would be resolved in the next eight months.

"There are discussions about it, I cannot promise you because it is not in our power, but I believe it will be resolved in the next eight months, the time we have. We have time until January 1 to solve this problem, and I believe we will solve it", Vucic said at Batajnica Airport.

Recall that Serbia had previously requested the European Commission to lift the obligation of a visa for citizens residing in Kosovo who hold passports issued by the Coordination Directorate in Belgrade, as stated earlier by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia for Kosovo Online.

"After EU institutions initiated and then made a decision to liberalize the visa regime with so-called Kosovo, talks on our side intensified with the European Commission regarding travel documents issued by the Coordination Directorate. The position of the Republic of Serbia on this issue is quite clear – citizens holding these travel documents cannot and must not be discriminated against, and the obligation to have a visa for travel to the EU must be lifted", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated at that time.