In a significant diplomatic development, the European Parliament (EP) and the Council of the European Union have officially signed a decision to lift visa requirements for holders of passports issued by Serbia’s Coordination Directorate. The decision was signed by EP President Roberta Metsola and Hungary’s Minister for European Affairs, János Bóka, whose country currently presides over the EU Council.
The signing ceremony in Strasbourg was attended by key officials, including Javier Zarzalejos, chair of the EP Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and EP member Matjaž Nemec, who was a key rapporteur for the abolition of these visas in the previous Parliament.
The European Council had already made the decision in July 2024 to include passports issued by the Coordination Directorate of Serbia in the visa-free regime. These passports are issued by the Serbian authorities for Kosovo residents.
The decision is set to take effect 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU, likely in early October. With today’s formal signing at the European Parliament, the process, which began last November, has come full circle.
This move comes almost a year after the European bodies began deliberations on lifting visa requirements for this group of Serbian citizens. It marks the final step in a process that has evolved over several votes.
When Serbia first entered the EU visa-free regime in 2009, Kosovo Serbs were able to obtain passports from police stations in nearby municipalities across the administrative line.
Between 2008 and 2009, Kosovo Serbs could use their passports to travel visa-free for a decade.
However, in 2009, a new passport was introduced for Kosovo Serbs, issued by the Coordination Directorate for Kosovo and Metohija, with issuance offices relocated to Belgrade.
Despite opposition from Pristina, which views these passports as „illegal“ and claims the move undermines the integration „of Kosovo Serbs into the Republic of Kosovo“, the decision to lift visa requirements was pushed forward.
Pristina has long opposed the idea, and this resistance continues despite today’s formal signing.
Meanwhile, Kosovo passport holders have benefited from visa-free travel since January 1, 2024.
This development led to an uptick in the number of Kosovo Serbs applying for Kosovo passports, with approximately 318,000 applications filed by August 2024, including around 10,500 from the Serbian minority.
On the other hand, the number of Coordination Directorate passport holders has been in decline for years.
While no precise figures exist, a report by the NGO „Aktiv“ indicated that between 2007 and 2016, a total of 76,807 passports were issued. By April 2024, this number had reportedly fallen to around 18,000, as confirmed by EP member Matjaž Nemec.
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