TIRANA, October 14 – Despite Prague’s push to get an agreement across the finish line before the end of their six-month stint at the EU steering wheel in December, prospects of success are dimming for Pristina as new demands continue to emerge.
Several EU member states, including France, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, have slowed down the Czech presidency’s push to end the EU visa requirement for Kosovo citizens as they are reportedly demanding additional security guarantees.
This comes even after four years of Commission-backed recommendations to grant visa liberalisation and the latest Czech EU Presidency push.
“I am much more optimistic than I was a year ago,” EU Enlargement chief Olivér Várhelyi told EURACTIV on Wednesday (12 October) after presenting the country’s annual enlargement progress report, confirming Kosovo had fulfilled all the points for visa liberalisation and said the EU executive would be awaiting the technical discussions.
“This will pay a dividend at the end of the year, and we will have a decision,” he added.
But the step ultimately requires the unanimous approval of all 27 EU member states.
At a technical level meeting of the Council on Thursday, representatives of France, who has repeatedly blocked a decision on the visa matter, seemed to add a new criteria to the ever-growing list of expectations, urging visa liberalisation for Kosovo must be linked to the functioning of the European security system, ETIAS.
The electronic system enables the verification of the data of citizens of third countries who do not need a visa to enter the Schengen Area. It requires every applicant to provide name, email, date of birth, and passport and to make a payment with a debit or credit card. The application is then reviewed, and authorities give a final decision as to whether that person can enter the Schengen Area.
Currently, the system is offline, but it is expected to be online in 2023, with no exact date given.
This is the first time ETIAS has been brought up in visa liberalisation discussions despite Kosovo being ready for four years, in accordance with pledges made at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in June.
The proposal, coming at the eleventh hour, was backed by officials from Madrid, Stockholm, Brussels, and The Hague, and according to sources, Copenhagen.
The French Foreign Ministry, contacted by EURACTIV about their thoughts on Kosovo visa liberalisation, declined to comment.
“The Working Party broadly welcomed the reopening of the discussion on the subject and generally supported the visa liberalisation process. In order to progress in this file, it will be necessary to clarify a number of related topics and continue the discussion,” the Czech presidency wrote in a statement.
The latest setback likely surprised the Czech Republic as sources from its Foreign Ministry pointed to Czechs being “slightly optimistic” before Thursday’s meeting.
Even if an agreement can be secured within the working group, the processes within the Council and other inter-institutional negotiations will probably mean that Kosovo will not get the green light before the end of the Czech Presidency, Iva Merheim-Eyre, an analyst at the Association For International Affairs, told EURACTIV Czech Republic. /Argumentum.al
