Visas for Kosovo in the Schengen zone are removed

From January 1, 2024, citizens of Kosovo will be able to travel without visas to the countries of the Schengen area.

The liberalization of visas enables citizens of Kosovo, who have biometric passports, to stay up to 90 days - within six months - in any of the 27 member states of the Schengen area.

But, despite the fact that Spain is part of Schengen, Kosovars will not be able to travel to this country, since official Madrid does not recognize Kosovo's independence or its passports.

On the 1st, at the International Airport of Pristina "Adem Jashari", the first trip was organized for 50 citizens, who won the trip to Vienna, Austria within the framework of an information campaign of the authorities regarding the liberalization of visas.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that for years citizens were deprived of the right to move without visas in the Schengen zone.

During the ceremony at Pristina Airport, Kurti asked the citizens who travel without visas to respect the requirements and criteria, "because this is how we respect and elevate our country".

"Therefore, this morning of the New Year 2024, there is no better way to start than with the expansion of the rights and opportunities of our citizens. We have waited too long, we have been deprived of many opportunities. Therefore, this is an important day, a great injustice is being removed and an important right is being won, the right to travel without visas in the Schengen zone", said Kurti.

Meanwhile, the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, described as a "historic achievement" the entry into force of the decision to liberalize visas for Kosovo.

"This historic achievement is not only an achievement for Kosovo, but it is a step towards our common goal: a closer, stronger and more united Europe. Fewer barriers, more opportunities," she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Visa-free travel is for tourist visits, family matters or similar. However, visa liberalization does not mean work permits or other benefits.

Kosovo was the last country in the Western Balkans, whose citizens could not move freely in the Schengen area until now.

This despite the fact that since 2018, the European Commission had confirmed several times that Kosovo had met all the conditions for visa liberalization, but that some countries had repeatedly expressed reservations. REL