The European Union (EU) has abolished visas for the citizens of Serbia traveling to the Schengen Area countries.
[b92.net] The decision was made today in Brussels by the EU Council of Ministers for Interior and Justice, and it will come into effect on December 19.
Serbian President Boris Tadić, along with Interior and Justice Ministers Ivica Dačić and Snežana Malović, is in Brussels this Monday, meeting with EU senior officials.
Beta reported ahead of the meetings today that a senior official of the presiding Swedish government stated that interior and justice ministers of the Union will amend regulation number 539/2001, stating that citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia will be on the "positive Schengen list."
It states that they will then be "freed of the obligation to have visas issued to them" by the EU, but will still be without the right to work in the 27 EU member-states.
The citizens included in the abolishing of the visa regime will be Serbian citizens, precluding those living in Kosovo, as well as citizens of Montenegro and Macedonia with biometric passports. They will be able to visit any country as tourists for three months at the most in any season of the year.
That means that three months after entering the territory of a country of the Schengen zone, they must end their stay, and they must also wait three months before entering again for three months in a tourist capacity under the regime of free movement without border control.
The EU Ministerial Council was also to stress that "under resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, those residing in Kosovo will have to ask for visas to travel in the EU," Beta stated, after gaining an insight into the draft decision.
It also stated that Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are not included in this measure, as it was confirmed that they "have not fulfilled conditions from the visa liberalization agreement of the Western Balkans countries."
Analyst Alexandra Stiegelmeier was quoted as saying earlier today that Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia deserve the have the visa regimes imposed on them abolished, "because they fulfilled all of the 50 necessary reform conditions in a short period of time".
“No one expected that these countries would be capable of implementing all these reforms in a period of a year and a half, but they did, and they will be rewarded now. What is most important is that the process showed that when clear conditions and clear goals and rewards are presented, the system of conditions being set by the EU functions well,” Stiegelmeier said.
“It is also important that the citizens of these three countries now have a much more positive stance towards the EU, and now have the sentiments that will make it easier for the governments of these countries to implement some less popular reforms that are needed,” she added.
“I believe that the EU is very carefully monitoring how the visa liberalization will be implemented in practice. That is why it is important for the citizens of these three countries to leave a good impression on the EU and citizens of the Union, and it is important for the governments to continue fulfilling the conditions of the road map towards EU integration,” she said.
“Otherwise, the EU will say that it was a mistake and that will have negative consequences, especially in the future enlargement of the Union and relations with these countries,” Stiegelmeier warned.
Source: http://www.b92.net//eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=11&dd=30&nav_id=63395
