BELGRADE, January 1 (EFE).- Kosovars see one of their aspirations fulfilled on Monday, which is to be able to travel without a visa to the Schengen Area and the European Union, in which they have been working since 2008. When the Pristina Parliament unilaterally declared the independence of the former Serbian province .
“This morning of January 1, 2024 could not have started better than expanding the rights and possibilities of the citizens of our republic,” Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti declared.
Kosovo is the last country in the Western Balkans to benefit from visa exemption for tourist stays in countries joining the Schengen Free Movement Treaty.
This opens up an area of 4.3 million square kilometers and 423 million citizens from 27 European countries (23 EU members and 4 non-EU countries).
In order to celebrate, today, Kurti, accompanied by his Foreign Minister, Dunika Gervala Schwarz, went to Pristina Airport to bid farewell to the first group of citizens who left for Vienna on a flight organized by the government.
At the event, broadcast by Klan Kosovo TV, the Prime Minister described the day as “very important” and stressed that his 1.8 million citizens can now travel visa-free to 32 countries.
The rule that took effect on Monday allows Kosovo passport holders to stay up to 90 days without a visa in the Schengen area, within a 180-day period.
After the European Parliament gave the green light to lift visa requirements for Kosovar citizens making short trips to the European Union as of January 1, 2024, Brussels announced last April that Spain would be the only member of the Schengen Area that would not do so. He. She.
However, according to several media reports, Madrid later clarified that it would implement this measure to make it easier for travelers from Kosovo to move freely through the Schengen Area. Along with Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia and Romania, Spain is one of five countries. Members of the European Union that do not recognize Kosovo's sovereignty. Evie
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