Nemec welcomes visa waiver for CA passports: Unacceptable for a small group in the Western Balkans to remain discriminated

Nemec welcomes visa waiver for CA passports: Unacceptable for a small group in the Western Balkans to remain discriminated…

The European Council adopted the decision today to abolish visas for holders of Serbian Coordination Administration passports, issued by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior for citizens in Kosovo. This is an important step, says the EU rapporteur for this issue, Matjaž Nemec.

By adopting Nemec’s report, the European Parliament voted in favor of visa liberalization for Kosovo citizens with Serbian passports at the end of April.

The next step in this procedure was the approval of the Council of Ministers of the European Union. Although this was expected to happen in May, as Nemec stated in April, the EU Council actually adopted this decision today.

The European Council adopted the provision abolishing the visa requirement for holders of Coordination Administration passports, which issues travel documents to Serbs in Kosovo.

The aim of the decision is to include the entire Western Balkans region under the same visa regime.

The decision will take effect 20 days after its publication in the Official Gazette of the EU.

Nemec: It’s unacceptable that a relatively small group in the Western Balkans remains discriminated

„I welcome today’s positive decision by the foreign ministers of member states to provide visa-free travel to the EU for the last group in the Western Balkans, namely holders of special Serbian passports for residents of Kosovo,“ Nemec said in a statement.

He stressed that this is an important step:

„As this is the end of the legislative process, and we aim to implement the visa-free regime as soon as possible.“

Since taking office, he said, he defended the view that it is a technical, not a political decision.

„It’s unacceptable to me that a relatively small group in the Western Balkans remains discriminated against, while we in the Union have finally abolished visas for all countries in the region this year. Kosovo was thus the last country to which the Union gave the green light on January 1, 2024, after years of waiting.“

Nemec expects the final step before publication in the EU Official Gazette, namely the official signing by the EU Council and the European Parliament.

„I will strive for this to happen as soon as possible and to facilitate travel for Kosovo citizens to member countries before the start of autumn,“ Nemec said.

How did holders of these passports become excluded from the visa-free regime?

Serbian citizens with regular Serbian passports, issued by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, have been traveling without visas for almost 15 years, since December 2009.

As part of the then-dialogue between Serbia and the European Union on visa liberalization, shortly before it came into effect, the Coordination Administration was formed.

The European Commission’s condition for recommending visa liberalization for holders of Serbian passports was that the police departments from Kosovo (Kosovska Mitrovica, Priština, Prizren), which were displaced, no longer issue passports to Serbian citizens residing in Kosovo, but that this responsibility be transferred to this centralized body.

„For persons residing in Kosovo as defined by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 of June 10, 1999 (known as UNSCR 1244), and persons with citizenship certificates issued in the territory of Kosovo (UNSCR 1244), the Coordination Administration in Belgrade will be responsible for receiving passport applications,“ reads point 4 of UN (1244/2009) – November 30, 2009.

Serbia was also asked to tighten security procedures for issuing passports, which were officially excluded from the visa-free regime. This was done because the EC at that time feared illegal migration from Kosovo.

This also resulted in an increase in the number of Albanians from Kosovo who applied for Serbian passports for years.

Eight years later (2017), the European Commission proposed to allow visa liberalization for holders of passports issued by the Kosovo Ministry of the Interior. This finally reached the European Parliament in April last year when the voting on the matter took place. Officially, holders of Kosovo passports have been traveling without visas since the beginning of this year.

Serbian citizenship applied for a Kosovo passport

Before and after this decision came into effect, several reports were published, indicating an increase in interest among Serbs in Kosovo for a Kosovo passport.

According to data of the Kosovo Police, by December 31, 2023, a total of 6,310 people who also have Serbian citizenship applied for a Kosovo passport.

The KP did not specify whether this includes Albanians from southern Serbia.

On the other hand, there was a notable decline in the number of holders of Coordination Administration passports.

Although there are no confirmed precise data on the updated number of holders of these passports, according to the North Mitrovica-based NGO „Aktiv,“ between August 16, 2007, and June 3, 2016, the Coordination Administration issued a total of 76,807 passports.

The latest data on the number of current holders of these passports showed a drastic drop. Matjaž Nemec, after the adoption of his report at the end of April, specified that 18,000 people now hold this passport.

It is a public secret that since 2009, when they became holders of ‘second-class’ passports, Serbs from Kosovo, but also others who possess Serbian documents, “made do” by using special or even fictitious changes of residence to some of the towns in Serbia to become legal holders of visa-free Serbian passports.

Who was left behind these two systems?

From the moment the visa liberalization for Kosovo passports came into effect, the only citizens who did not have the opportunity to obtain a visa-free passport were those citizens who, on one hand, still possessed Coordination Administration passports and ‘did not make do’ to acquire ‘normal’ Serbian passports or refused to do so, while at the same time, on the other hand, do not meet the conditions for obtaining Kosovo documents, including passports.

Due to the non-recognition of Serbian certificates of death, birth, and marriage (in the period after 1999), as well as court decisions on divorce or decisions of other Serbian institutions, including the Center for Social Work, and other complications, a significant number of Serbs, but also members of other non-majority communities in Kosovo, still cannot obtain Kosovo documents.

For them, the only option is the Serbian passport issued by the Coordination Administration. As a result, they remained the only group not covered by visa liberalization from either system.

Nemec pointed out this issue again, ahead of the vote on his report in the European Parliament:

„This decision would enable a better life for Serbs because 18,000 people have special passports, and they are the last group of citizens in the Western Balkans who do not have visa liberalization, and there is no justification for this.“

Polarization

After the problem was recognized by the European Commission, and with the explanation that there is no longer a danger of illegal migration from Kosovo, especially since they previously approved the visa-free regime for Kosovo passports, in November 2023, they proposed to exclude the passports issued by Serbia for citizens in Kosovo from the visa-free regime.

Pristina strongly objected, even initiated measures to prevent it, including a letter from some Albanian NGOs, government lobbying, and activities by the chief negotiator himself.

The Kosovo side still strongly objects to this decision.