Arsovski: Little chance that Schengen rules will be abolished in our region

Analyst from Skopje Petar Arsovski believes that travel rules for citizens of the Western Balkans traveling to the European Union will not change anytime soon, emphasizing that current member states of the Schengen Area would oppose such a move.

According to him, the possibility of abolishing Schengen as a system remains small, not only because of the functionality of the system itself, but also because of the “glacial speed” at which the European Union moves when making such decisions.

“I think it is more likely that we might create some kind of special status, particularly because of the new EES and ETIAS systems, but I do not believe that the rules for travel to the EU will change anytime soon. The current member states of the Schengen Area, which feel the benefits of integrated border management within Schengen, will certainly oppose such a mechanism,” Arsovski told Kosovo Online.

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, it should be recalled, stated at the informal ministerial meeting in Brussels held on Monday that Serbia’s message was that it wants to see the Schengen area opened to the entire region as quickly as possible.