Netherlands urged to unblock visa liberalization for Kosovo

English

Gazeta Express

01/04/2022 15:55

Kosovo remains the only country in the region that does not enjoy visa-free travel in the EU Schengen Area. France and Netherlands are the two EU Member States which are skeptical on granting Kosovo citizens visa liberalization with the justification that the country should do more in fighting organized crime and corruption. The European Commission in 2018 gave green light for visa liberalization for Kosovo citizens confirming that the country has fulfilled all visa liberalization requirements.    

Netherlands skepticism has made Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Thijs Reuten and Stefan van Dijk, a Dutch man who lives and works in Kosovo since 2012 to write a joint article in the Dutch newspaper “Trouw” urging their country to unblock visa liberalization for citizens of Kosovo. Reuten and Van Dijk ask Netherland to support democratic Kosovo mentioning that the European Commission and the European Parliament have already concluded that Kosovo has fulfilled all the criteria and is ready to get visa free regime.  

The two Dutch authors say that the Government of Netherlands is not sufficiently convinced on Kosovo’s progress in fighting organized crime and corruption, adding however that such a position is ambiguous and difficult to prove. Additionally, Reuten and Van Dijk say that Netherland’s position is politically motivated and stated that by acting so the Netherlands politics is undermining a process which has been built on unbiased criteria. The two authors say that by not delivering on its promises this risks Kosovo be excluded from the European perspective.

Reuten and Van Dijk write that now that some countries are exhibiting autocratic tendencies, it is important to support a democratic state such as Kosovo oriented towards the EU. They both say that it is time for Netherlands to remove the blockade enabling Kosovars visa free travel. /GazetaExpress/