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The EU Council decided to abolish the visa regime for Kosovo citizens holding Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Agency.
This decision was taken at the foreign ministerial level during the last meeting.
Adoption by the European Council will conclude all legislative proceedings.
The regulation will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and once it does, it will begin to be implemented in all EU member states.
“Today, the EU Council adopted a regulation removing the exclusion previously applicable to holders of Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Agency, ensuring that the entire Western Balkans region is subject to the same visa regime,” the EU statement said.
In view of the decision on the visa-free regime for Kosovo, which came into effect on January 1 this year, the procedure for abolishing the visa regime for Kosovo citizens holding only Serbian passports has been initiated.
With the abolition of visas for Kosovo passports, Kosovo citizens who hold only documents issued by the Kosovo Serbia Coordination Centre remain the only people in the region who need a visa to travel to the Schengen area. Last November, the European Commission proposed abolishing visas for such citizens.
The European Parliament voted on this in April this year.
The Kosovo government reacted at this time. Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister said in November 2023 that “the recognition of these documents undermines the integration of the Serbian community and damages our long-standing efforts (on the integration of Serbs)”.
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