Kosovo - April 2023

The European Parliament has endorsed Kosovo’s visa liberalization, enabling its citizens to travel to the EU for up to 90 days in any 180-day- period without applying for a visa. The agreement will come into effect by 1 January 2024.

Kosovo is the only country in the Western Balkans whose citizens were not, until now, able to travel visa-free in the Schengen area. The European Commission proposed visa liberalization for Kosovo in 2016, and confirmed that all criteria were fulfilled in 2018. The visa liberalization agreement has been considered long overdue, yet an important milestone for the country, its EU integration process, the strengthening of relationships with the EU, as well as increased freedom of movement for its citizens.

Sources: European Commission, Koha, Euractiv, Kosova Press

Local elections were held in four municipalities with ethnic Serb majorities following the resignation of Serb mayors in November 2022. The dominant Kosovo Serb party, Serbian List (Srpska Lista), which is supported by the government of Serbia, boycotted the elections. Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić also called on Kosovo Serbs to boycott these elections. This led to low turnout (3.5 per cent). Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti declared that Kosovo Serbs were being intimidated and pressured by Serbia not to participate in the elections. The Serbs boycotted in protest, as they have been demanding more autonomy through the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities (ASM), which would see the creation of a mono-ethnic structure, operating independently from the Kosovo government. The legality of the agreement has sparked debate in Kosovo, as the ASM was signed by both Kosovo and Serbia as part of the EU dialogue in 2013, but in 2015 Kosovo’s Constitutional Court ruled it was incompatible with the constitution.

Sources: Kallxo, Balkan Insight (1), Balkan Insight (2), Euractiv, Reuters, Voice of America